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.

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

From Slate • Apr. 21, 2026

The opening weekend for Amazon MGM's "Project Hail Mary" logged a healthy $81 million, and was followed up by "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie" with $131 million.

From Barron's • Apr. 10, 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

“Ah, such intelligence,” she beamed when I finished stuttering through the Hail Mary in English, “a true man of learning!”

From "Bless Me, Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya