have the last laugh

To ultimately achieve success after encountering adversity or doubt from others. After so many people dismissed her, Lisa had the last laugh by moving to Hollywood and becoming a well-known character actress.

Succeed in the end, after some earlier reverses. For example, We'll have the last laugh when they learn we got the contract. This expression, alluding to laughing at the loser, appeared in slightly different form in the mid-1500s and gave rise to the modern proverbial phrase, He who laughs last laughs best (or He laughs best who laughs last).

COMMON If you have the last laugh, you become more successful than someone who has laughed at or criticized you in the past. The singer is expecting to have the last laugh on his critics by selling over a million copies of his CD. She was mocked for her lack of political experience. But she has had the last laugh. Her party has increased its number of seats from 112 to perhaps 150.

To win in the end, after some earlier setbacks. This term is a slightly later version of a proverb recorded by John Ray in 1678, “Better the last smile than the first laughter,” which then became “He who laughs last, laughs best.” The same proverb exists in French, Italian, and other languages. There have been several modern plays on it, such as H. W. Thompson’s “He laughs best whose laugh lasts,” and Terry Cohen’s wry “He who laughs last is generally the last to get the joke.”