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Synonyms

ensuing

American  
[en-soo-ing] / ɛnˈsu ɪŋ /

adjective

  1. occurring after something else; subsequent or following.

    You can watch the full lecture and the ensuing discussion on our YouTube channel.

    Over the ensuing millennia, further eruptions continued to shape and give rise to the mountain.
ensuing British  
/ ɪnˈsjuːɪŋ /

adjective

  1. following subsequently or in order

  2. following or occurring as a consequence; resulting

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • ensuingly adverb

Etymology

Origin of ensuing

ensu(e) ( def. ) + -ing 2 ( def. )

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.

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Vocabulary lists containing ensuing

I, Robot

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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.

Mamdani faced criticism after at least 18 people died during the first storm and ensuing cold snap.

From BBC • Apr. 13, 2026

That skepticism represents the so-called wall of worry that the ensuing rally can climb.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 9, 2026

For Gilbert, 61, the allegations and ensuing chain of events have been “hell.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 6, 2026

In the ensuing years, Penn took fewer major movie roles as he pursued his own activism.

From Barron's • Mar. 16, 2026

Thirdly, mass extinctions akin to the archetypal Australian decimation occurred again and again in the ensuing millennia—whenever people settled another part of the Outer World.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari

Definitions 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.