not a moment too soon
At the last second
Not a moment too soon describes something arriving or happening at the last possible time before it would have been too late.
The phrase emphasizes relief that timing worked out, often with an edge of anxiety about how close the situation came to failure: The ambulance arrived not a moment too soon.
It can also express impatience that something took longer than it should have: They finally fixed the broken elevator—not a moment too soon.
- just in timeAt the last moment
- in the nick of timeAt the final moment
- timelyOccurring when appropriate
- last-minuteJust before deadline
- deadlineTime limit for completion
beat the clock · race against time · buzzer beater · photo finish · haste · crucial · rescued · hurry · punctual · saved · avoided · salvaged · spared · eleventh-hour · relieved · sigh of relief · phew · close call
not a moment too soontoo late
Past the cutoff
too little too late · a day late and a dollar short · after the fact · prematurely · belatedly
not a moment too soonno rush
No urgency here
no hurry · prematurely · jumping the gun · whenever · anticlimactically
moment, moments, momentary, momentarily, momentous, momentousness, sooner, soonest