Posthumous
adj
adj ·3 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Adjective
- 1 After the death of someone. not-comparable
"The most favorable posthumous history the stay-at-home traitor can hope for is—oblivion."
- 2 Taking place after one's own death. not-comparable
"Artists obscure during their life often receive posthumous recognition, too late for them to enjoy."
- 3 In reference to a work, published after the author's death. not-comparable
"His memoirs were his posthumous revenge on enemies he dared not take on alive."
- 4 In reference to a musical opus, published or initially performed after the composer's death. not-comparable
- 5 Born after the death of one's father. not-comparable
"Posthumous orphans never even knew their fathers."
Adjective
- 1 occurring or coming into existence after a person's death wordnet
Example
More examples"Most of his posthumous fame came from his autopsy results."
Etymology
From Latin posthumus, a variant spelling of postumus, superlative form of posterus (“coming after”), the ⟨h⟩ added by association with humus (“ground, earth”) referring to burial.
Related phrases
More for "posthumous"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.