Definition of latter in English:

adjective

• 1Occurring or situated nearer to the end of something than to the beginning.

  ‘the latter half of 1989’

  ‘heart disease dogged his latter years’

  More example sentences

  • ‘The real significance was the difference in tone and style between the beginning of his speech and the latter half.’
  • ‘Violent times for the poor reigned in the latter half of the last century and into the beginning of this one.’
  • ‘Joining in the programme in the latter half, she will talk about her career, her father and her music.’
  • ‘Good fishing reported in the latter half of the week with good hatches of olives and mayflies all over the lake.’
  • ‘Well, Quine was probably the most important theorist of knowledge of the latter half of the twentieth century.’
  • ‘Somehow, I managed to get away with only posting on here almost once a month for the latter half of the year.’
  • ‘So we did eat quite well, like when we were on the latter half of the tour.’
  • ‘The Haldiram saga was also well mapped, but I did nod off towards the latter half.’
  • ‘You spent the first half of the week recalling the previous weekend and the latter half wishing the week forward to the next.’
  • ‘Indeed, if you do not, I would suggest that most of the latter half of the book would be unrelenting in its dullness.’
  • ‘The company was initially keen to establish export markets, a policy which has paid off in the latter half of this century.’
  • ‘In the latter half of the 1990s there has been some waning of political focus on the issue of immigration.’
  • ‘Asparagus was not grown on a large scale in N. America until the latter half of the 19th century.’
  • ‘The latter half of the book - on the necessity and the nature of missions - is heavier going.’
  • ‘The freight and passenger traffic is greater in the latter part of the week than at the beginning of the week.’
  • ‘In the latter stages of cooking add water chestnuts, small corns, green beans and a tin of coconut milk.’
  • ‘Had he missed the goal that point would have been very important in the latter stages of the game.’
  • ‘My mother is in the latter stages of pregnancy and her health is extremely weak.’
  • ‘In the latter half of the 1840s, Britain was plunged into deep depression.’
  • ‘The latter half of my previous letter, will in part, explain why.’

  Synonyms

  later, hindmost, closing, end, concluding, final

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  1. 1.1Recent.
     ‘the project has had low cash flows in latter years’
     More example sentences

     • ‘The latter event came closest to threatening the singer's customary composure.’
     Synonyms

     latest, most recent, modern

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• 2the latterDenoting the second or second mentioned of two people or things.

  ‘the Russians could advance into either Germany or Austria—they chose the latter option’

  as noun ‘the President appoints the Prime Minister and, on the latter's advice, the rest of the government’

  More example sentences

  • ‘I mention the latter because of what we both saw under a tree some distance from us.’
  • ‘If dealer does the latter, a second round of bidding occurs in which eldest hand has the right to name the trump suit.’
  • ‘To be or not to be - I'm rubbish at the former, and the latter isn't an option.’
  • ‘At present, I would say the balance of possibilities is tending towards the latter option.’
  • ‘I took the latter option, and less than a month later found myself a new job with my current employer.’
  • ‘If you were honest, you probably identified more with the latter option in each case.’
  • ‘Nevertheless, it is to the latter that we will turn, and to which the second half of this chapter will be devoted.’
  • ‘A lucky shot from the second assassin finally killed the ambassador as the latter ran off.’
  • ‘In football, the latter part of the equation does not seem to apply.’
  • ‘If anything, the emphasis has shifted progressively from the latter to the former.’
  • ‘Of course, the 1979 constitution subordinated the latter to the former.’
  • ‘The latter in turn, blamed the shoppers who barged in without paying heed to instructions.’
  • ‘Oddly enough, I find the latter to be a more important bit of news.’
  • ‘We are still clinging tenaciously to the latter at the expense of the former.’
  • ‘On the whole, I think that this campaign tends toward the latter at the expense of the former.’

  Synonyms

  last-mentioned, second-mentioned, second of the two, second, last, later

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