posthumously

American  

[pos-chuh-muhs-lee, -choo-] / ˈpɒs tʃə məs li, -tʃʊ- /

adverb

1. after a person’s death, typically the death of the author or other artist.

   The sculpture, designed in 1967 by American artist Tony Smith, was exhibited posthumously.

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Etymology

Origin of posthumously

posthumous ( def. ) + -ly

Explanation

Posthumously is an adverb that helps describe something that happens to a person after they die, whether it happens to their estate, their life’s work, or the memory of them that remains. The prefix post- means “after,” and the Latin word humus means “ground.” Add the suffix -ly and that lets you use the word to describe some action taken after someone’s dead and in the ground, like posthumously naming a street after a dead politician, or posthumously publishing a new book written by an author who died years ago. The word doesn’t sound how it looks, so pronounce it like this: POSS-chew-muss-lee.

Example Sentences

Hall of Fame defensive tackle Steve McMichael, a key member of the Super Bowl XX champion Chicago Bears, has been diagnosed posthumously with Stage 3 chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the Concussion & CTE Foundation said Tuesday.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 7, 2026

As Sam Sacks writes of this posthumously published collection of short stories, “Segal never loses her equipoise, or her sense of humor, in these most extreme confrontations with mortality.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026

After Chavez’s death in 1993, he was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

From Salon • Mar. 22, 2026

Osbourne, who died last July just weeks after his farewell performance in his hometown of Birmingham, will be posthumously honoured at the ceremony in Manchester on Saturday.

From BBC • Feb. 27, 2026

The comet duly arrived and was named for him posthumously.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan