手遅れ
Meanings
1
too late; missed the chance
Describes a situation where action is no longer effective because the critical moment has passed. Often used in expressions like 手遅れになる (become too late) or 手遅れだ (it's too late).
By the time we arrived at the hospital, it was already too late.
Is it too late to start studying now?
Usage patterns
- 〈事〉が手遅れになるfor a situation to become too late to fix
The illness was discovered too late to treat.
- もう手遅れだit's already too late (nothing can be done now)
Apologizing now won't help—it's already too late.
- 手遅れになる前に〈動詞〉to do something before it's too late
I went to the hospital right away, before it was too late.