it is the last straw that breaks the camel's back
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
A small incident can cause a major crisis when added to existing problems
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Một sự cố nhỏ có thể gây ra một cuộc khủng hoảng lớn khi cộng với các vấn đề hiện có
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: the final straw that breaks a camel's back under heavy load
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Sources & notes
Listed on Wikipedia “List of proverbial phrases” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “it is the last straw that breaks the camel's back” mean?
A small incident can cause a major crisis when added to existing problems Literally: the final straw that breaks a camel's back under heavy load
Is “it is the last straw that breaks the camel's back” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.