in the wake of

phrase

1

: close behind and in the same path of travel

… missionaries arrived in the wake of conquistadors and soldiers …

—Sabine MacCormack

2

: as a result of : as a consequence of

… power vacuums left in the wake of the Second World War.

—Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.

Examples of in the wake of in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Houston has been a recurring scene of protests to Trump's immigration crackdown in the wake of one ICE officer fatally shooting a Mexican homebuilder and another striking a man with a car. — Arkansas Online, 7 Nov. 2026

The futility of Republican gerrymandering has been kind of a secondary story this week, in the wake of major Democratic victories. — Jonathan Blitzer, New Yorker, 7 Nov. 2026

The disaster market — when real estate speculators scoop up properties in the wake of a disaster — happens quite often in Southern California, a region battered by fires, earthquakes, landslides and floods. — Jack Flemming, Los Angeles Times, 6 Nov. 2026

Atlanta saw enormous protests in the wake of the May 2020 murder of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. — Tracy Grant, Encyclopedia Britannica, 6 Nov. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1547, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for in the wake of

• above
• foxglove
• hereof
• thereof
• whereof
• dove
• glove
• love
• shove
• hereinabove