afterclap

American  

[af-ter-klap, ahf-] / ˈæf tərˌklæp, ˈɑf- /

noun

1. an unexpected repercussion.

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Etymology

Origin of afterclap

1300–50; Middle English; compare Low German achterklap; see after, clap ¹

Explanation

People may think a period of political unrest is over once the government has restored order — but then there may be an afterclap as a slew of protesters take to the streets demanding the police chief resign for not acting soon enough. The clap in afterclap is like the one in thunderclap: a sudden, loud noise — but in this case, it's an unsettling development that comes after people have stopped expecting it. Imagine a thunderstorm full of loud, crashing peals of thunder. It dies down, the sky clears, and the storm is past. But then, all of a sudden, there's another loud clap of thunder! That's the image suggested by the word afterclap: a complex, chaotic situation seems to be over, and then it turns out that it's not.

Example Sentences

Then, like an afterclap of thunder: Father always does the square thing!

From A Spinner in the Sun by Reed, Myrtle

"We must not have our triumph spoiled by any afterclap."

From The Scouts of the Valley by Altsheler, Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander)

Its afterclap of 1812 displayed little but empty bombast and greed.

From An Account of the Battle of Chateauguay Being a Lecture Delivered at Ormstown, March 8th, 1889 by Lighthall, W. D. (William Douw)

The afterclap was inevitable, and it soon came. 

From A Group of Noble Dames by Hardy, Thomas

N. disappointment; blighted hope, balk; blow; anticlimax; slip 'twixt cup and lip; nonfulfillment of one's hopes; sad disappointment, bitter disappointment; trick of fortune; afterclap; false expectation, vain expectation; miscalculation &c.

From Roget's Thesaurus by Roget, Peter Mark