How to Use afterthought in a Sentence

afterthought

noun
  • The lounge was added to the office as an afterthought.
  • The fact was hidden deep in the report, almost as an afterthought.
  • Then I remembered, almost as an afterthought, to feed the cat.
  • In the midst of all that chaos, the money was an afterthought.
    Dave Schilling, Los Angeles Times, 11 Oct. 2023
  • Does the rest of the image appear to be an afterthought?
    WIRED, 21 Mar. 2023
  • Last year, with Williams back, the Trojans were an afterthought in the Pac-12 race.
    Dan Santaromita, The Athletic, 27 Dec. 2024
  • But that’s not to say that hot dogs are an afterthought.
    Lawrence Specker | Lspecker@al.com, al, 5 July 2023
  • Ken was an afterthought, a joke (a fact the film seems eager to play with).
    Sarah Seltzer, Time, 19 July 2023
  • And for a lot of these players in the market, that's an afterthought.
    Bruce Rogers, Forbes, 1 Nov. 2021
  • This side plot seems rather rushed, and a street protest scene seems an afterthought.
    Jocelyn Noveck, Detroit Free Press, 12 June 2021
  • As a result, the ground game in Ohio can seem like an afterthought.
    The New Yorker, 16 Apr. 2022
  • The greens themselves were overcooked and mushy, and the pile of kasha was so small as to seem like an afterthought.
    Soleil Ho, San Francisco Chronicle, 11 Apr. 2022
  • Please keep this in mind: The rice and beans are no afterthought at Crown Cantina.
    Keith Pandolfi, The Enquirer, 25 June 2024
  • So many brands do it as an afterthought or dip their toe in.
    Sharon Edelson, Forbes, 3 May 2022
  • The fact that the winner earned a spot in the Final Four was almost an afterthought.
    C.l. Brown, The Courier-Journal, 9 May 2023
  • No room was an afterthought, and even the kitchen is pristine.
    Emma Reynolds, Robb Report, 3 July 2024
  • And then there’s the item most guys leave as an afterthought: Tuxedo shoes.
    Maverick Li, Men's Health, 1 Dec. 2022
  • Sometimes, a pair of socks as a gift seems like an afterthought.
    Mike Richard, Men's Health, 10 Dec. 2022
  • No longer an afterthought, the lounge is a clubby spot.
    Kathy A. McDonald, Variety, 29 Oct. 2021
  • For years, the Orioles were an afterthought on stages like these.
    Chelsea Janes, Washington Post, 16 July 2024
  • To march around in a pair of boots is a choice, certainly not an afterthought.
    Nicole Kliest, Vogue, 3 Dec. 2023
  • These shows often felt like an afterthought in the past.
    Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 9 Feb. 2023
  • The finalists seem like an afterthought, though each does get to take the stage once for a duet with his or her coach.
    Maggie Fremont, EW.com, 13 Dec. 2022
  • But, more than an afterthought, the best white wines warrant a place of pride in your cellar.
    Mike Desimone, Robb Report, 28 Aug. 2022
  • But the days of Microsoft being an afterthought in the tech world are over.
    Gerrit De Vynck, Washington Post, 31 Jan. 2024
  • To those in the West, the Battle of Berlin may seem like an afterthought, the death throes of a war already decided.
    Darren Orf, Popular Mechanics, 29 Dec. 2022
  • Food and dessert aren't an afterthought, so why not give wine the same love and attention?
    Amelia Goe, The Arizona Republic, 18 Dec. 2021
  • Running the country was an afterthought, and the results are in.
    WSJ, 18 July 2022
  • The game's director Josef Fares is keen to pitch his product as more than a purely splitscreen experience - that is, a singleplayer game happening to contain co-op as an afterthought.
    Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 4 Mar. 2025
  • Their flowers in pale pink or white are an afterthought to the plethora of scents – peppermint, lemon, chocolate, nutmeg, apple, ginger, apricot, attar of roses, and cinnamon, among others – that their leaves transmit upon being rubbed or crushed.
    Joshua Siskin, Orange County Register, 6 Mar. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'afterthought.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: