at the end of the day

[ at thee end uhv thuh dey ]

idiom

1. after everything is considered or accounted for; ultimately:

   At the end of the day, we went for simpler printers that just do their job as soon as you click “print” on your device.

   “Yes, cost and convenience matter, but at the end of the day, it’s about the welfare of our children,” she said.

Word History and Origins

Origin of at the end of the day¹

First recorded in 1970–75

Example Sentences

Other aspects include, once those leaders are given temporary powers to represent us—we hand over our sovereignty to them for a temporary period to represent us—they’re constrained by checks and balances, by the rule of law, and by the protection of individual rights in order to ensure that, at the end of the day, our granting to them of our sovereignty as “we, the people,” is temporary and we get to take it back at the end of their term in office.

From Slate

Scapegoating misses the point: “At the end of the day, what is really causing these fires is the dry conditions,” New York City Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol told me later when I asked about the cause.

From Slate

“At the end of the day, we are animals; we have senses when we’re in someone’s presence,” Kayla Triviera, a 28-year-old tech worker and part-time TikTokker who’s actively dating in New York City, told me.

From Slate

"At the end of the day, it's your money, it’s not the government's money, so if you've got any entitlement to a refund then absolutely take it," she said.

From BBC

“At the end of the day, it is just a game of footy,” he said last month of the prospect of making his union return in the Test arena.

From BBC

Related Words

• finally
• in the course of time
• one day
• someday
• sooner or later
• ultimately