postcolonial
adjective
post·co·lo·nial
ˌpōst-kə-ˈlō-nē-əl 
-nyəl
: 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
Garry WillsExamples of postcolonial in a Sentence
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Over the past decade, scholars have increasingly mapped postcolonial theory onto post-Soviet contexts, treating Russian imperial expansion as analogous to Western colonialism.
—Anel Rakhimzhanova, Artforum, 1 Mar. 2026
On another continent, CIA station chief Larry Devlin formed a pliable if kleptocratic regime out of the chaos in postcolonial Congo.
—Alfred McCoy, Literary Hub, 26 Feb. 2026
The idea that Heathcliff might be of African descent first entered academic discussion in the 1950s and gained momentum as postcolonial studies became more popular in the ’80s and ’90s.
—Jasmine Vojdani, Vulture, 10 Feb. 2026
Idi Amin and Yoweri Museveni both confronted, in different brutal ways, the challenges of governing a postcolonial nation.
—Helen Epstein, The New York Review of Books, 25 Dec. 2025
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Anel Rakhimzhanova, Artforum, 1 Mar. 2026
On another continent, CIA station chief Larry Devlin formed a pliable if kleptocratic regime out of the chaos in postcolonial Congo.
—Alfred McCoy, Literary Hub, 26 Feb. 2026
The idea that Heathcliff might be of African descent first entered academic discussion in the 1950s and gained momentum as postcolonial studies became more popular in the ’80s and ’90s.
—Jasmine Vojdani, Vulture, 10 Feb. 2026
Idi Amin and Yoweri Museveni both confronted, in different brutal ways, the challenges of governing a postcolonial nation.
—Helen Epstein, The New York Review of Books, 25 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for postcolonial
Cite this Entry
“Postcolonial.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/postcolonial. Accessed 4 Mar. 2026.
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