You can use the following syntax to extract the last word from a cell in Google Sheets:
=TRIM(RIGHT(SUBSTITUTE(A2," ",REPT(" ",LEN(A2))),LEN(A2)))
This particular formula will extract the last word from the cell A2.
The following example shows how to use this syntax in practice.
Example: Extract Last Word from Cell in Google Sheets
Suppose we have the following list of phrases in Google Sheets:
We can use the following formula to extract the last word from cell A2:
=TRIM(RIGHT(SUBSTITUTE(A2," ",REPT(" ",LEN(A2))),LEN(A2)))
We’ll type this formula into cell B2 and press Enter:
The formula correctly returns the word fast.
We can then drag and fill this formula down to each remaining cell in column B to extract the last word from each cell in column A:
The formula correctly extracts the last word from each cell.
Note that the formula works no matter how long the string or phrase is in any given cell.
Also note that the formula works when the string only contains one word, such as the string in cell A5.
Additional Resources
The following tutorials explain how to perform other common operations in Google Sheets:
Google Sheets: How to COUNTIF Not Equal to Text
Google Sheets: Filter for Cells that Do Not Contain Text
Google Sheets: How to Reverse a Text String