better late than never
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Traditional English proverbial phrase; full definition pending editorial review.
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
But as the old saying goes, it's better late than never (and better never late!— Ed).
We can congratulate ourselves: better late than never!
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed on Wikipedia “List of proverbial phrases” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review.
Equivalents & related
Common questions
What does “better late than never” mean?
Traditional English proverbial phrase; full definition pending editorial review.
Is “better late than never” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.
What is the closest equivalent?
“muộn còn hơn không” (Tiếng Việt) — near equivalent.