afterthought

noun

af·​ter·​thought ˈaf-tər-ˌthȯt 

1

: an idea occurring later

2

: something (such as a part or feature) not thought of originally : something secondary

Examples of afterthought in a Sentence

Then I remembered, almost as an afterthought, to feed the cat.

The fact was hidden deep in the report, almost as an afterthought.

The lounge was added to the office as an afterthought.

Recent Examples on the Web

Security And Compliance By Design Security and compliance are not afterthoughts in industrial DataOps; instead, they are embedded by design. —Nagesh Nama, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2025

Sustainability as a First Principle Environmental performance is not an afterthought in my work; it’s embedded from the start. —Nathanael Bondu, Rolling Stone, 5 Sep. 2025

But the talented 2022 second-round pick had mostly been an afterthought during his rookie season. —Parker Gabriel, Denver Post, 5 Sep. 2025

The parents were kind of an afterthought. —Emily Longeretta, Variety, 4 Sep. 2025

Word History

Etymology

after- + thought entry 1

First Known Use

1590, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for afterthought

• aeronaut
• aforethought
• apricot
• argonaut
• astronaut
• camelot
• coffeepot
• concordat
• cosmonaut
• entrepot
• flowerpot
• huguenot

Kids Definition

afterthought

noun

af·​ter·​thought -ˌthȯt 

1

: a later thought about something one has done or said

2

: something not thought of originally