after the fact

Idioms  

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.

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Example Sentences

Norris questioned the decision after the fact but by then it was too late.

From BBC

The fact that she stood by her delusional expectations after the fact is shocking.

From MarketWatch

"We now need to use those same tools to curb the abuse in the first place rather than having to work with dealing with it after the fact," he said.

From BBC

“He took a life on duty—and realized another’s life after the fact—and to walk around with that is a difficult situation.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Meanwhile, Mizuho desk-based analyst Jordan Klein said that Nvidia’s stock and earnings are “so over-analyzed” at this point that it “feels hard for the company to beat and guide up enough to really create a rush of buying right after the fact.”

From MarketWatch