aftermath means that which happens after, that which follows, usually of strongly negative connotation in most contexts, implying a preceding catastrophe.
aftermath is pronounced /ˈæf.tɚˌmæθ/.
Why “aftermath” is a great word
The consequences or effects, typically unpleasant, of a significant and usually disastrous event. From after + -math, from Old English mǣþ ("a mowing"), related to māwan ("to mow"); originally meaning "a second crop of grass after the first harvest" (first attested 1520s). Unlike "consequence" (a neutral or natural result of any action, lacking the inherent implication of catastrophe) or "upshot" (the final result or outcome, often of a series of events, and not necessarily linked to a preceding negative event), aftermath is the specific, bitter reaping that follows the scythe. It is the blackened stubble of a field still smoking from wildfire, the numb silence that fills a room once the shouting stops, and the scattered photographs along a flooded riverbank—the world continuing, tender and broken, in the wake of what cannot be undone.
noun
- That which happens after, that which follows, usually of strongly negative connotation in most contexts, implying a preceding catastrophe.“In contrast to most projections of the aftermath of nuclear war, in this there is no rioting or looting.”
- A second mowing; the grass which grows after the first crop of hay in the same season.“They were cutting aftermath on all sides, which gave the neighbourhood, this gusty autumn morning, an untimely smell of hay.”
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