Meanings
plural aftermaths
- That which happens after, that which follows, usually of strongly negative connotation in most contexts, implying a preceding catastrophe.
In contrast to most projections of the aftermath of nuclear war, in this there is no rioting or looting.
2 more examples
Fogel, working with a script by the journalist Kerry Howley, follows Winner from the age of nine to the aftermath of her plea, and organizes the movie around voice-over reminiscences by Reality (the character is played by Emilia Jones).
2024 September 11, Richard Brody, ““Winner” Takes Political Comedy Seriously”, in The New Yorker, archived from the original on 20 Sep 2024More than a quarter of a century after the fraught events that followed the privatisation of the railway, Corbett has provided a warts and all analysis of what led to the spate of rail disasters in the aftermath of the break-up of British Rail, and (ultimately) to the demise of the company.
2026 March 4, Christian Wolmar, “Railtrack: what really happened”, in RAIL, number 1056, page 50Synonyms: lattermath · Antonyms: foremath, beforemath
- obsoleteagricultureA second mowing; the grass which grows after the first crop of hay in the same season.
They were cutting aftermath on all sides, which gave the neighbourhood, this gusty autumn morning, an untimely smell of hay.
1879, Robert Louis Stevenson, Travels with a Donkey in the CévennesSynonyms: lattermath, rowen · Antonyms: foremath, beforemath
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThat which happens after, that which follows, usually of strongly negative connotation in most contexts, implying a preceding catastrophe.
nounA second mowing; the grass which grows after the first crop of hay in the same season.
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe consequences of an event (especially a catastrophic event)
nounthe outcome of an event especially as relative to an individual
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂ep
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂epó
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂ep(o)teros
- Proto-Germanic*after
- Old Englishæfter
- Middle Englishafter
- Englishafter
- Old Englishæfter
- Old Englishæfter-
- Middle Englishafter-
- Englishafter-
- Englishmath
- Englishaftermath
From after- + math (“a mowing”).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic أَعْقَاب
- أَعْقَاب (ʔaʕqāb)that which happens after, that which follows
Bulgarian после́дствие, после́дица
- после́дствие (poslédstvie)that which happens after, that which follows
- после́дица (poslédica)that which happens after, that which follows
Catalan redall
- redallsecond mowing
Chinese Mandarin 後果 /后果, 結果 /结果
- 後果 /后果 (hòuguǒ)that which happens after, that which follows
- 結果 /结果 (jiéguǒ)that which happens after, that which follows
- 餘波 /余波 (yúbō)that which happens after, that which follows
- 再生草second mowing
Czech důsledek, následek
- důsledekthat which happens after, that which follows
- následekthat which happens after, that which follows
Danish eftervirkning, efterdønning
- eftervirkningthat which happens after, that which follows
- efterdønningthat which happens after, that which follows
Dutch nasleep
- nasleepthat which happens after, that which follows
Esperanto postfojno
- postfojnothat which happens after, that which follows
Finnish jälkivaikutus, jälkiseuraus
- jälkivaikutusthat which happens after, that which follows
- jälkiseurausthat which happens after, that which follows
- jälkithat which happens after, that which follows
- jäljetthat which happens after, that which follows
- äpäresecond mowing
French séquelles, contrecoup
- séquellesthat which happens after, that which follows
- contrecoupthat which happens after, that which follows
- impactthat which happens after, that which follows
- dégâtsthat which happens after, that which follows
- regainsecond mowing
German Nachwirkung, Folge
- Nachwirkungthat which happens after, that which follows
- Folgethat which happens after, that which follows
- Nachwehenthat which happens after, that which follows
- Nachspielthat which happens after, that which follows
- Folgezeitthat which happens after, that which follows
- Nachmahdsecond mowing
- Grummetsecond mowing
- Zweiter Schnittsecond mowing
Greek συνέπεια, επακόλουθο
- συνέπεια (synépeia)that which happens after, that which follows
- επακόλουθο (epakóloutho)that which happens after, that which follows
Hungarian következmény, utóhatás
- következménythat which happens after, that which follows
- utóhatásthat which happens after, that which follows
- utóéletthat which happens after, that which follows
- utózöngethat which happens after, that which follows
Irish iarmhairt, toradh
- iarmhairtthat which happens after, that which follows
- toradhthat which happens after, that which follows
- athbharrsecond mowing
Italian conseguenze, strascico
- conseguenzethat which happens after, that which follows
- strascicothat which happens after, that which follows
Japanese 余波, 結果
- 余波 (yoha)that which happens after, that which follows
- 結果 (kekka)that which happens after, that which follows
Korean 여파, 결과
- 여파 (yeopa)that which happens after, that which follows
- 결과 (gyeolgwa)that which happens after, that which follows
Polish następstwo, pokłosie
- następstwothat which happens after, that which follows
- pokłosiethat which happens after, that which follows
- otawasecond mowing
- potrawsecond mowing
Portuguese resultado, rescaldo
- resultadothat which happens after, that which follows
- rescaldothat which happens after, that which follows
Romanian consecințe, sechele
- consecințethat which happens after, that which follows
- sechelethat which happens after, that which follows
- consecințăthat which happens after, that which follows
- repercursiunethat which happens after, that which follows
- repercursiunithat which happens after, that which follows
- impactthat which happens after, that which follows
- sechelăthat which happens after, that which follows
- urmărithat which happens after, that which follows
Russian после́дствие, второ́й поко́с
- после́дствие (poslédstvije)that which happens after, that which follows
- второ́й поко́с (vtorój pokós)second mowing
Slovak dôsledok, následok
- dôsledokthat which happens after, that which follows
- následokthat which happens after, that which follows
Spanish consecuencia, secuela
- consecuenciathat which happens after, that which follows
- secuelathat which happens after, that which follows
Swedish efterdyning, efterspel
- efterdyningthat which happens after, that which follows
- efterspelthat which happens after, that which follows
- efterräkningthat which happens after, that which follows
- efterskördsecond mowing
- efterslåttersecond mowing
Turkish ardından, sonrasında
- ardındanthat which happens after, that which follows
- sonrasındathat which happens after, that which follows
Ukrainian на́слідок
- на́слідок (náslidok)that which happens after, that which follows
Welsh adladd, adladd
- adladdthat which happens after, that which follows
- adladdsecond mowing
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
aftermath. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/aftermath
“aftermath.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/aftermath. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “aftermath,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/aftermath.
Source: aftermath on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.