Idiom idiom
better late than never
Meaning
Better to arrive late than not to come at all
Examples
“You finally finished the report; better late than never.”
“The train arrived two hours behind schedule, but since I really needed to get home, I figured it was better late than never.”
“Although the government took years to address the environmental crisis, the new laws were welcomed by activists who believed it was better late than never.”
Origin
first recorded 14th c.
first recorded 14th c.
Ancient proverb; appears in Livy's History of Rome ('potius sero quam numquam') and in English in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (c. 1386).
Last updated June 7, 2026