- present participle of ensue.
ensuing
Americanadjective
adjective
-
following subsequently or in order
-
following or occurring as a consequence; resulting
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ensuing
Explanation
If you go snowboarding in a leotard, prepare for an ensuing cold. Ensuing means "coming right after, or as a result of something that happened." Ensuing is the adjective form of the verb ensue, which comes from the Old French ensuivre, which means "following in." We usually use it to show cause and effect. Blame your entrepreneurial friend who takes bets in the lunchroom for the ensuing crackdown on employee gambling. An ensuing event happens right after its cause. If a dog bites you when you're eight, and twenty years later you start having nightmares about dog bites, those aren't ensuing nightmares. They're surfacing memories.
Vocabulary lists containing ensuing
I, Robot
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"Say It with Flowers" and "The Journey"
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Outcasts United
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
On the ensuing possession, Stafford completed a 14-yard pass to Adams and, one play later, found Nacua for 16 yards and then Adams for 15.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
But the ensuing row could make Seoul even more reluctant to do so, Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University, told AFP.
From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026
I’m much happier with an occasional Big Seasonal Prep Day — fill the freezer with soups, sauces, breakfast burritos and other useful things — and then let the ensuing weeks fall where they will.
From Salon ● Sep. 22, 2026
A front tyre had blown on the car and Hammond said in his post that he did not scream during the ensuing crash.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
Ten times in the ensuing week, he cried, “Robbie stays,—and that’s final!” and each time it was weaker and accompanied by a louder and more agonized groan.
From "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
