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Definition 2024


deathbed_conversion

deathbed conversion

English

Noun

deathbed conversion (plural deathbed conversions)

  1. (set phrase) Acceptance of religious belief immediately before one dies, usually in a last-minute effort to save one's soul or to gain entry into a paradisiacal afterlife.
  2. (idiomatic, usually sarcastic, often politics) An abrupt, last-minute change in one's professed beliefs, principles, or point of view in order to escape a serious threat or to increase one's chances of success.
    • 1996 Nov. 17, "Whatever," Newsweek (retrieved 28 May 2015):
      The dilemma was how to propose a big tax cut and still look credible. Dole knew that the Democrats would mock him for a deathbed conversion.
    • 2002 July 16, Richard A. Oppel Jr. and David E. Sanger, "House Passes Bill to Combat Corporate and Securities Fraud," New York Times (retrieved 28 May 2015):
      "A deathbed conversion" was how Representative John LaFalce of New York State described the House Republicans' change of heart.
    • 2010 Feb. 10, Andrew Grice, "Brown's insurance against defeat," Independent (UK) (retrieved 28 May 2015):
      Gordon Brown's deathbed conversion to electoral reform may look like pure opportunism and widening the goalposts for his team just as the match kicks off.