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

Since the expansion of the Wild Card with the current labor deal, a total of 12 teams make the postseason. — Maury Brown, Forbes.com, 20 July 2026

The problem with the trade deadline since the postseason was expanded to 12 teams is that so many teams have a chance at the postseason. — Assistant Sports Editor, Los Angeles Times, 20 July 2026

The teams that have taken the start of the regular season a little more seriously, such as Dallas and Golden State, don’t have any meaningful playoff history and are thus harder to trust come the postseason. — Sabreena Merchant, New York Times, 20 July 2026

After dropping the first two games in Kansas City, their postseason odds at Fangraphs has dropped from 12% to 8% heading into Sunday’s series finale. — Jeff Sanders, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1893, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for postseason

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