posthumously

pos·thum·ous·ly
P3O1S1T1H4U1M3O1U1S1L1Y4

adverb

After death.

UncommonScrabble 22

Meanings

adverbposthumously (not comparable)

alternative post-humously

  1. not comparableAfter death.

    In his boyhood that posthumously libelled sovereign lady, Anne, had terribly prevailed among the dwellings on this highway; […]

    1913, Booth Tarkington, The Flirt, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, →OCLC, page 4
    3 more examples

    Yet while Gauguin went native, taking teenage mistresses, wearing local costumes and building his own wooden hut, his ultimate purpose was to impress the art world back home. And he did, although posthumously.

    2003 October 14, Alan Riding, “The Colors of Paradise As Imagined by Gauguin”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

    Mormons have recently posthumously baptised at least 20 Holocaust victims, Humphrey Bogart, Marilyn Monroe and the Queen Mother, according to a researcher who has spent two decades monitoring the church’s massive genealogical database.

    2017 December 21, “Holocaust victims and Queen Mother posthumously baptised by Mormons”, in The Guardian

    In the following month, driver Ben Gimbert and fireman Jim Nightall (posthumously) were awarded the George Cross, the highest honour the King could give civilians.

    2022 January 12, Benedict le Vay, “The heroes of Soham...”, in RAIL, number 948, page 43

    Synonyms: post mortem, post obitum

Synonyms & antonyms

adverbAfter death.

Origin

  1. Englishposthumous
  2. Proto-Indo-European*leyg-
  3. Proto-Germanic*līką
  4. Englishposthumously

From posthumous + -ly.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Czech posmrtně
  • posmrtněafter death
Esperanto postmorte
  • postmorteafter death
Finnish kuoleman jälkeen, postuumisti
  • kuoleman jälkeenafter death
  • postuumistiafter death
French posthumement, à titre posthume
  • posthumementafter death
  • à titre posthumeafter death
Hindi मरणोपरांत
  • मरणोपरांत (marṇoprānt)after death
Italian postumamente
  • postumamenteafter death
Japanese 死後
  • 死後after death
Polish pośmiertnie
  • pośmiertnieafter death
Portuguese postumamente
  • postumamenteafter death
Russian посме́ртно
  • посме́ртно (posmértno)after death
Spanish póstumamente, post mortem
  • póstumamenteafter death
  • post mortemafter death
Swedish postumt
  • postumtafter death
Vietnamese but see truy tặng
  • but see truy tặngafter death
Cite this entry
APA

posthumously. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/posthumously

MLA

“posthumously.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/posthumously. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “posthumously,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/posthumously.

Source: posthumously on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.