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postindustrial

American  
[pohst-in-duhs-tree-uhl] / ˌpoʊst ɪnˈdʌs tri əl /

adjective

  1. of, relating to, or characteristic of an era following industrialization.

    The economy of the postindustrial society is based on the provision of services rather than on the manufacture of goods.
postindustrial British  
/ ˌpəʊstɪnˈdʌstrɪəl /

adjective

  1. characteristic of, relating to, or denoting work or a society that is no longer based on heavy industry

"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

  • postindustrialist noun

Etymology

Origin of postindustrial

post- + industrial

Vocabulary lists containing postindustrial

The United States

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Western Europe - Introductory

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Western Europe - Middle School and High School

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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.

With Microsoft’s rise, the industrial material age slowly gave way to the postindustrial digital age, transforming how value was created and distributed.

From The Wall Street Journal • Sep. 27, 2025

Really, it’s more like the stuff of a landfill, Hesselein said, or a postindustrial brownfield.

From Seattle Times • May 15, 2024

"The Sopranos" existed in a postindustrial suburban world.

From Salon • Feb. 24, 2024

Jerome Siegel, a professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at UCLA, conducted research on hunter-gatherer societies in Tanzania, Bolivia, and Namibia that revealed similar sleep patterns to humans in postindustrial societies.

From National Geographic • Jan. 4, 2024

They have never looked more impressive than afloat in the light and air and postindustrial glam of its repurposed substation.

From New York Times • Jun. 1, 2023

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.