postcolonial

adjective post·co·lo·nial \ ˌpōst-kə-ˈlō-nē-əl , -nyəl \

Updated on: 7 Apr 2018

Definition of postcolonial

: of, relating to, or being a time after colonialism

postcolonial America

Carter was the first American president to take seriously the entire postcolonial era that has remade the globe since World War II.
—Garry Wills

Recent Examples of postcolonial from the Web

Something about this rang true: Power dynamics between nonwhites in postcolonial societies can be frustratingly opaque.

— karan mahajan, The New Republic, "After the Strongman," 26 Mar. 2018
Sierra Leone’s tumultuous postcolonial politics has been dominated by two major parties: the SLPP and the APC.

— jamie hitchen, Washington Post, "Sierra Leone goes to the polls on March 7. Here are the 5 things you need to know.," 7 Feb. 2018
Her lyrics — on subjects of love, fellowship and postcolonial reckoning — spring from a similar insistence on inquiry.

— jon pareles, New York Times, "The Playlist: John Prine Comes Home, and 10 More New Songs," 9 Feb. 2018
The 2007 crisis came to an end when the winner, Mr. Kibaki, agreed to share power with the opposition — the only national example in postcolonial Kenyan history of an alternative to the winner-take-all system.

— jina moore, New York Times, "In Kenya, Revote Raises Challenges for a Young Democracy," 25 Oct. 2017
Much of the postcolonial world is not so abundantly blessed.

— walter russell mead, WSJ, "Secessionism’s Dangerous Return," 16 Oct. 2017
While some Rohingya claim centuries of history in what is now Burma, many Burmese see them as a postcolonial stain, brought by the British from Bengal in the 19th century to work the fields and left to multiply in number through the 20th.

— max bearak, Washington Post, "Aung San Suu Kyi was a ‘bright light’ for some Rohingya. That dream is dead.," 19 Oct. 2017
Drafted in an age of strongmen, during the first two decades of the country’s postcolonial period between 1946 and 1965, the 11 works collected in this volume — 10 stories and a play — read as feminist.

— melissa chadburn, New York Times, "Feminist Fiction From the Philippines, Written 50 Years Ago," 1 Sep. 2017
Like most postcolonial countries with a history of brutal European occupation, Indonesia has a complex relationship with race, colorism and ethnic conflict.

— jennifer neal, The Root, "For Those Considering Blaxit, I Present to You: Jakarta," 17 Aug. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'postcolonial.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.