after-the-fact

adjective

af·​ter-the-fact
: occurring, done, or made after something has happened
after-the-fact approval
an after-the-fact review

Examples of after-the-fact in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Woman of the Hour acknowledges in a postscript that survivors and other private citizens had reported Alcala to law enforcement for a decade, but this after-the-fact treatment almost downplays the sheer volume of his previous crimes. Laura Bradley, Vulture, 18 Oct. 2024 For example, an amicus brief from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce last year pointed to regulators’ sweeping rules and after-the-fact enforcement actions. Jason Ma, Fortune, 20 July 2024 For celebrities and the non-famous alike, followers and friends can react strongly, almost in an offended way, when a pregnancy or child is revealed after-the-fact. Felecia Wellington Radel, USA TODAY, 2 July 2024 Gain emphasizes that most retailers have not yet maximized the opportunity to successfully integrate between existing systems for real-time data sharing, resulting in significant after-the-fact labor-intensive searching for key information and video evidence. Tyler Shepherd, USA TODAY, 12 June 2024 Congress can also dissuade the president from launching unlawful strikes by empowering U.S. federal courts to review after-the-fact lawsuits brought on behalf of victims. Stephen Wertheim, Foreign Affairs, 10 Feb. 2020 Was there a lot of after-the-fact identification in the editing of those sorts of details? Todd Gilchrist, Variety, 15 Mar. 2024 Those after-the-fact checks have identified 700 alerts since 2018 that violated Interpol’s rules, according to figures released for the first time to The Times. Jane Bradley, New York Times, 20 Feb. 2024 Fraud was prevented not by a kind of after-the-fact forgery analysis carried out by a bank authority but with an instantaneous check of the blockchain, the unforgeable public record of who possessed every single bitcoin. Andy Greenberg, Ars Technica, 18 Jan. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1633, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of after-the-fact was in 1633

Dictionary Entries Near after-the-fact

Cite this Entry

“After-the-fact.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/after-the-fact. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.

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