Afterthought

//ˈæft.ɚ.θɔt// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A reflection after an act; a later or subsequent thought, action, or expedient.

    "She packed her sandals only as an afterthought, but she was glad she did."

  2. 2
    an addition that was not included in the original plan wordnet
  3. 3
    Something additional to the original plan or concept.

    "This whole remodeling was an afterthought; we were only going to paint and call it good."

  4. 4
    thinking again about a choice previously made wordnet
Verb
  1. 1
    To expound as an afterthought. nonstandard, possibly
  2. 2
    simple past and past participle of afterthink form-of, participle, past

Synonyms

All synonyms
reconsiderationabout-faceaddendumafterthoughtsappendixback matter

Example

More examples

"She added, as an afterthought, that she was going to do some shopping."

Etymology

From after- + thought, probably modelled on forethought. Compare also the verb afterthink.

More for "afterthought"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.