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afterward

afterward

204 1.1
At a later time
  • adverb
  • /ˈæftərwərd/
  • US
translation icon : después
  • We'll deal with that afterwards, all right?
  • shortly afterward
  • soon afterward
  • long afterward

It didn't do well and afterwards I felt eviscerated.

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Examples

  • And afterward she said, "If you're so smart, why are you still in the second grade?"

  • Talking with some of the group participants afterward, my own reaction was confirmed.

    Academic text (1999)
  • I never felt like going but afterward, I was glad I did.

  • You can come back afterward, darling.

  • But Tom kept writing short stories and soon afterward published a collection.

    Academic text (2011)
  • Joy was minimal, but afterward there was a certain sense of achievement.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • Afterward, she cried and thanked me for bringing life back into their home.

  • Bo Young can start by describing the dish and then eat it afterward.

  • Each evaluative observation began 10 minutes before the actual class and ended 10 minutes afterward.

    Academic text (2008)
  • I never felt like going but afterward, I was glad I did.

Synonyms

then
vsafterward
1.0

To show a result after something happens

marks sequence of time without implying causation
next
vsafterward
1.0

Immediately after that

can mean a following moment that is not immediate
later on
vsafterward
366 1.0

At a time after now or after a time already said

is more neutral and used in formal contexts
subsequently
vsafterward
  • Formal
113 4.8

After something else happens

is the neutral everyday term rather than formal usage
thereafter
vsafterward
  • Formal
88 4.1

From that time on

refers to a single subsequent occurrence without continuous continuation
later
vsafterward
1.0

At a time after now or after a time already said

is broader and fits many time contexts

How Late

eventually
3.0
afterward
  • US
204 1.1
later
1.0
soon
1.0
immediately
1.0

Surface Forms

afterward positive
afterwards positive

Morphology

afterward = (transparent) = after + ward

The adverb is formed from 'after' + the directional/time suffix '-ward', yielding the straightforward meaning 'at a later time'. [Postprocessing: moved 'after' from base_words to prefix]

Etymology

Afterward comes from the two parts after and -ward, where after means 'later' and -ward means 'toward', as in forward or backward. So afterward simply means 'at a later time'.