always used before a noun
medical
: happening after death
a postmortem examination
plural postmortems
1
medical
: an examination of a dead body to find out the cause of death : autopsy
A postmortem showed that the man had been poisoned.
2
: a discussion or analysis of something (such as an event) after it has ended
Party leaders are conducting a postmortem of the election to try to find out what went wrong.
Cite this Entry
“Postmortem.” Merriam-Webster.com Simple Definition, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/simple/postmortem. Accessed 22 Jun. 2026.
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