semi finalThe meaning of SEMIFINAL is being next to the last in an elimination tournament. How to use semifinal in a sentence.semi-final [ˈsemi:ˌfaɪnəl, ˈsemaɪ-] [ˈsɛmiˌfaɪnəl, ˈsɛmaɪ-] n. ;; :semi-finals []For them anything less than a semi-final is a catastrophe.