late stage

Meanings

1. 1adjectivebefore a noun

   Happening or existing near the end of a process, especially an illness, when it is most advanced; usually hyphenated before a noun.

   Grammar: Comes before the noun it describes: late-stage cancer, not the cancer is late-stage in formal writing.

   Patterns

   • late-stage something

   Doctors found late-stage cancer, which limited the treatment options.

   The late-stage trial involved thousands of patients.

   He suffers from late-stage kidney disease.

2. 2nouncountable

   The final part of a process or period of time, when most of the development has already happened.

   Grammar: Often used with 'in' or 'at': at a late stage.

   Patterns

   • at a late stage
   • in the late stage of something

   We changed the plan at a late stage, which caused delays.

   In the late stage of the project, costs began to rise.

   Problems appeared late in the stage of testing.

Common combinations

late-stage cancer

Late-stage cancer is harder to treat than early-stage disease.

late-stage trial

The company is running a late-stage trial of its new drug.

late-stage capitalism

The essay describes modern shopping as late-stage capitalism.

at a late stage

The error was spotted at a late stage.

Synonyms and how they differ

advanced

Advanced describes how far something has developed, while late-stage stresses its position near the end of a process.

terminal

Terminal means the illness will lead to death, which late-stage does not always mean.

Opposites

Word family

stage noun

a step or period in a process

early-stage adjective

at the beginning of a process

late adjective

near the end of a period of time

Commonly confused: late stage or last-minute?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “late stage”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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