hereafter
Americanadverb
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after this in time or order; at some future time; farther along.
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in the time to follow; from now on.
Hereafter I will not accept their calls.
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in the life or world to come.
noun
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a life or existence after death; the future beyond mortal existence.
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time to come; the future.
adverb
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formal in a subsequent part of this document, matter, case, etc
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a less common word for henceforth
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at some time in the future
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in a future life after death
noun
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life after death
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the future
Etymology
Origin of hereafter
before 900; Middle English; Old English hēræfter. See here, after
Explanation
You can use the adverb hereafter to talk about what happens next, after this moment. For example, you might say, "I will hereafter get my homework done in time." When you mean "from now on," you can say hereafter, like when you give a friend a new nickname: "You will hereafter be known as Brostache." Another kind of hereafter is what happens after death. When someone talks specifically about "the hereafter," he usually means heaven or life after death. This is the earliest meaning of the word, and it's often mentioned in religious contexts and at funerals.
Vocabulary lists containing hereafter
The Dawes Act
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Gulliver's Travels
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Hello, Universe
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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.
Yet Keaton’s off-kilter taste—reflected elsewhere in her rambling dialogue delivery and outré fashion sense—is in evidence in her attraction to the strange personalities asked to ruminate on the hereafter.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 7, 2026
That alone tells me that you’re certainly on the right track, and what you do hereafter can only make it better.
From MarketWatch • Dec. 9, 2025
In a statement, she said she hoped her hereafter would be filled "with impossibly handsome men and devoted dogs".
From BBC • Oct. 11, 2025
Did Vance’s handshake send Francis to the hereafter, or Berger’s creative hubris?
From Salon • Jun. 6, 2025
And so the Sweet Singer sang one final time to us, from the hereafter.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
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.
