after

UK /ˈɑːftə/ US /ˈæftəɹ/

prep 5adj 2adv 1conj 1noun 1

Definitions

adv

Behind; later in time; following.

I left the room, and the dog bounded after.

They lived happily ever after.

prep

Subsequently to; following in time; later than.

We had a few beers after the game.

The time is a quarter after eight.

Subsequently to; following in time; later than.

After your bad behaviour, you will be punished.

Subsequently to; following in time; later than.

I’m not putting you in charge again after the last disaster.

Subsequently to; following in time; later than.

After all that has happened, he is still my friend.

I can’t believe that, after all our advice against gambling, you walked into that casino!

Subsequently to; following in time; later than.

I'm tired of picking up after you. Why can't you clean your own messes?

conj

Signifies that the action of the clause it starts takes place before the action of the other clause.

The show ends after the fat lady sings.

After we had decided to call it a day, I went home.

Collocations

ADJ.

all, all, cold, fat, left, long, many, same

We finally found our cat three days after she went missing from the house.

VERB + AFTER

arrested, asked, began, bounded, came, couple, ends, lived

The police arrested him after he tried to rob the convenience store.

AFTER + NOUN

affairs, baby, character, child, children, event, lady, life

She worried about her children after the accident happened at school.

PREP.

from, in, into

She jumped into the pool right after her friend did.

ADV.

abroad, ever, happily, shortly, such

She moved abroad after finishing her degree and found a job in Berlin.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

adverb — happening at a time subsequent to a reference time

Antonyms

Idioms & Phrases

time after time

Again and again; repeatedly; every time; always; time and again.

Time after time he tries, and time and again, he fails.

after all

anyway, in any case; indicates a statement is true regardless of other considerations; used to reinforce or explain a point.

After all, they never come home for Christmas.

run around after

To spend a lot of time doing things for another person or group of people. Often used when that person could reasonably do the things for themselves.

I have spent all morning running around after the kids.

close the stable door after the horse has bolted

To attempt to prevent a problem that has already occurred; to design and implement a preventive mechanism that is too late (after the first failure instead of before).

We are now in an election period, with WhatsApp and closed Facebook groups being used, as we speak, in electoral campaigning, but the law has not changed since the DCMS Committee,

happily ever after

Chiefly preceded by he, she, they, etc., lived: often used as a formulaic ending in fairy tales, stories for children, and similar works: in a state of happiness for the rest of his, her, their, etc., lives.

And they lived happily ever after.

Example Bank

I left the room, and the dog bounded after.

Wiktionary

They lived happily ever after.

Wiktionary

I might come next month, or the month after.

Wiktionary

We had a few beers after the game.

Wiktionary

The time is a quarter after eight.

Wiktionary

The Cold War began shortly after WWII.

Wiktionary

Usage Notes

i Register

In some senses, after is marked as dated. Watch for register when choosing this word.

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