afterword

American  

[af-ter-wurd, ahf-] / ˈæf tərˌwɜrd, ˈɑf- /

noun

1. a concluding section, commentary, etc., as of a book, treatise, or the like; closing statement.

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afterword British  

/ ˈɑːftəˌwɜːd /

noun

1. an epilogue or postscript in a book, etc

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Etymology

Origin of afterword

First recorded in 1885–90; after + word

Explanation

In a book, the afterword comes at the very end and tells you something about how it came to be written. The afterword is often written by someone other than the book's author. An afterword is similar to a foreword — the only difference is that it comes at the end of a text, instead of at the beginning. Unlike an epilogue, which wraps up a story, an afterword is separate from the narrative, and it's rarely written by the author. Instead, it's commentary by another writer that gives the reader extra information about how the book was developed, how it fits into a historical context, or biographical details about its author.

Example Sentences

“My way of covering the case was to chronicle the vibe,” Ms. Lemann explains in an afterword.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 23, 2026

With a foreword by Alexis Pauline Gumbs and an afterword by Imani Perry, the editors of this carefully curated collection weave a mosaic of narratives from those who studied with and were mentored by Jordan.

From Salon • Oct. 30, 2025

You also write in the afterword about leaving Gaza and going to Lebanon, only to find the war following you there.

From Slate • Sep. 22, 2025

“Goldenseal‘s” premise is based, Hummel writes in her afterword, on Sándor Márai’s “Embers,” which similarly follows two men meeting four decades after an event that tore their friendship apart.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 4, 2024

Michael Frayn, in an afterword to his play Copenhagen, notes that several words in German–Unsicherheit, Unschärfe, Unbestimmtheit–have been used by various translators, but that none quite equates to the English uncertainty.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson