after the fact

1. After an actual occurrence, particularly after a crime. For example, I know the brakes should have been repaired, but that doesn't help much after the fact. The use of fact for a crime dates from the first half of the 1500s. The word became standard in British law and is still used in this way today. The idiom was first recorded in 1769 in the phrase accessories after the fact, referring to persons who assist a lawbreaker after a crime has been committed. Now it is also used more loosely, as in the example above.

Example Sentences

When Houlihan was notified of her failed test a month after the fact, she no longer had the original bottles to examine, she says.

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What McCabe said is that he leaked without Comey’s permission, then told Comey afterward, and Comey supposedly expressed approval of the leak after the fact.

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The best we can usually do is come up with broad explanations and make models after the fact.

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This approach transforms the dialogue from an attempted conversion into a legitimate conversation, wherein you’re merely offering your partner something to consider after the fact.

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“We suspect they were going through everything with a fine-tooth comb looking for anything to peg her with after the fact,” Gauthier said, adding that his client was cleared of wrongdoing.

Read more on Los Angeles Times