postseason

noun

post·​sea·​son ˈpōs(t)-ˌsē-zᵊn 

plural postseasons

US, sports

: a period of time immediately after the regular season when teams play against each other in a series of games to determine a champion

NFL fans have been complaining that the 2016 postseason is the worst in history.

—Michael Salfino

The teams will face each other in the postseason.

—often used before another noun

a postseason game/victory

their postseason record

Examples of postseason in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This well-balanced and resilient Braves squad is clearly built for a deep postseason run. — Bernie Pleskoff, Forbes.com, 11 Aug. 2026

As the debate over College Football Playoff expansion focuses on whether the postseason tournament should grow to 16 or 24 teams, an idea to find middle ground might illustrate just how far apart both sides remain. — Chris Vannini, New York Times, 11 Aug. 2026

There are 13 games left in the season and the Sparks are six games back of Dallas for the eighth and final WNBA playoff seed, giving them an uphill climb to get back in the postseason conversation. — Marisa Ingemi, Los Angeles Times, 10 Aug. 2026

In 2001, the Mavs upset the Utah Jazz in the first round of the NBA playoffs, the team’s first postseason series victory since 1988. — Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 10 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1893, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for postseason

• milesian
• partizan
• preseason
• unreason
• reason
• season
• seizin
• treason