after-
after- prefix: with contrary, subordinate, or remote effect, denoting hindrance, setback, inferiority, etc.
Prefix
after-
- With contrary, subordinate, or remote effect, denoting hindrance, setback, inferiority, etc.
- after- + deal → afterdeal
- after- + tale → aftertale
- With adverbial or adjectival effect, forming compound words indicating something that comes afterwards in spacial position.
- after- + deck → afterdeck
- after- + limb → after-limb
- Synonyms:
- post-
- With prepositional effect, forming compound words denoting something which follows the second element of the compound, and is less intense or significant.
- after- + glow → afterglow
- after- + shock → aftershock
- With prepositional effect, forming compound words denoting follows and is a result of the second element of the compound.
- after- + birth → afterbirth
- after- + life → afterlife
Examples of after- in a sentence
- after- + ship → after-ship
- after- + thought → afterthought
- after- + noon → afternoon
Synonyms of after-
Antonyms
Origin of after-
From after (adverb and preposition), and also continuing Middle English after-, efter-, æfter-, from Old English æfter- (“after, behind, against”). Cognate with Scots efter-, West Frisian efter-, Dutch achter-, German after-, Swedish efter-. More at after.
Questions about after-
- What does after- mean?
- After- means with contrary, subordinate, or remote effect, denoting hindrance, setback, inferiority, etc.
- How do you use after- in a sentence?
- after- + ship → after-ship
- What part of speech is after-?
- After- is a prefix.
Words near after- in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: after- (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “after-.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/after-. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.