afterthought

noun

af·​ter·​thought ˈaf-tər-ˌthȯt 

1

: an idea occurring later

made the suggestion as an afterthought

2

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

a seating area added as an afterthought to the office

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

Have Industry, Academia And Government Collaborate Early On One lesson from AI is that governance cannot be an afterthought. — Pravir Malik, Forbes.com, 10 July 2026

Catching that kind of margin drift requires treating cost monitoring as a core product decision, rather than an infrastructure afterthought. — Ascend Agency, Chicago Tribune, 9 July 2026

Barkitecture is the practice of designing homes so pet features are built into the architecture and finishes rather than tacked on as afterthoughts. — Ryan Brennan, Charlotte Observer, 8 July 2026

Wisdom teeth may be on a similar path, moving from an afterthought of a dental procedure to tissue with genuine research value attached. — Allison Palmer, Sacbee.com, 6 July 2026

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