Hail Mary

[heyl mer-ee, mair-ee] / ˈheɪl ˈmɛr i, ˈmɛər i /

NOUN

last-ditch effort

Synonyms

WEAK

Ave Maria Hail Mary pass Hail Mary play ave last-minute pass

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Third place went to Amazon MGM's hit sci-fi adventure comedy "Project Hail Mary," with $13.2 million.

From Barron's • Apr. 26, 2026

The plaintiffs then filed a Hail Mary request with the Supreme Court to intervene before the D.C.

From Slate • Apr. 21, 2026

The findings, published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, echo the kind of mission imagined in the Hollywood film Project Hail Mary.

From Science Daily • Mar. 25, 2026

Project Hail Mary ranks as the third-bigest non-sequel and non-franchise film to open above $50m overseas since the Covid pandemic, along with Oppenheimer and F1: The Movie.

From BBC • Mar. 23, 2026

When we finished saying Hail Mary about three hundred times, we said our personal prayers silently, which was kept to a minimum, since our knees would be killing us by then.

From "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd