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A word or phrase that means the most in the future

English Language & Usage Asked by JustinM on August 9, 2021

I am looking for a word or very short/concise phrase that would mean the furthest in the future given a collection of dates.

I am currently using Most Distant, but it feels very esoteric, and previously it was using Most Recent which I think is just plain misleading.

Some quick background, this is for use within an application where a group of objects have a date attached to them and they also need a property to denote the one that is farthest in the future so I’m looking to come up with a good descriptive name for that property.

6 Answers

In the (most) remote future?

"remote" - far away in time : happening a long time ago or far into the future. Merriam-Webster

Answered by Centaurus on August 9, 2021

After a quick brain storming session with some colleagues we've decided on

Final : happening or coming at the end.

Also considered were

Terminal: of or relating to an end, extremity, boundary, or terminus

and

Hindmost: farthest to the rear

Answered by JustinM on August 9, 2021

Last:
Sequent se·quent ˈsēkwənt/ adjective

following in a sequence or as a logical conclusion.

First:
Foremost fore·most ˈfôrˌmōst/ adjective

most prominent in rank, importance, or position

-Google


Something less esoteric might be furthest/closest; first/last; begin/end; leading date/end date; furthest pending/immediately pending. Perhaps, last sequent would leave little in doubt.

Answered by Mazura on August 9, 2021

The furthest in the future would be the last to occur, so I would say, simply, "last" or one of its synonyms (since "last" can also be taken to mean "most recent" as "last before now").

Answered by xr280xr on August 9, 2021

Given your use case (a label for an application), I would recommend you consider the coining of a new word or phrase that accurately communicates the meaning of the property, over settling for an existing commonly-used term that is less clear or has misleading connotations.

In this case, the concept you're thinking about is "the most in the future", so a concise term or phrase would be "future-most". A google search of "most suffix" turns up mutliple dictionary entries demonstrating that this use of "most" is standard and appropriate to what you're trying to convey.

As someone who works with databases, I've created a field/column in the past with the ID "FutureMostScheduledDate" (dropping the hyphen as a non-allowed character) for what is I think an identical purpose.

Answered by Richard Abey-Nesbit on August 9, 2021

Following on from my comment on @RichardAbey-Nesbit's answer, I propose:

least imminent

Allow me to state my reasoning. The obvious concise answer to this question if it referred to a date furthest in the past would be least recent.

We are accustomed to ask "how recent?", and to talk of something being "very recent" (something happening emphatically not long ago), "less recent" (something happening a comparatively longer time ago), and "not recent" (something happening in the distant past, or expressing doubt that it happened at all).

And it is apparent that the future-oriented counterpart word is imminent, and can be used in exactly the same combinations like "very imminent" (about to happen emphatically soon), "less imminent" (something that will happen comparatively further in the future), and "not imminent" (something that will happen in the distant future, or expressing doubt that it will occur at all).

So given a set of dates, the date furthest in the future is the least imminent.

The phrase does not seem idiomatic, so it may give people pause for thought when first encountered, but it does not involve any new coinage, and there is no possible ambiguity in meaning (for example, I can't see any train of thought that would lead a person to think "least imminent" meant the soonest rather than latest date in the future, or that it referred to any point in the past).

Answered by Steve on August 9, 2021

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