postmortem

American  

[pohst-mawr-tuhm] / poʊstˈmɔr təm /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or occurring in the time following death.

2. of or relating to examination of the body after death.

3. occurring after the end of something; after the event.

   a postmortem criticism of a television show.

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adverb

1. after death.

   Pacemakers have to be removed postmortem from bodies that are going to be cremated.

noun

1. Medicine/Medical. a postmortem examination; autopsy.

2. an evaluation or discussion occurring after the end or fact of something.

   to do a postmortem on the decision of a court.

3. Cards. a discussion of the bidding or playing of a previous hand.

postmortem British  

/ pəʊstˈmɔːtəm /

adjective

1. (prenominal) occurring after death

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noun

1. analysis or study of a recently completed event

   a postmortem on a game of chess

2. See postmortem examination

postmortem Cultural  

1. Autopsy; figuratively, any analysis that follows an event: “When the convention is over, we'll have a postmortem to find ways of improving it for next year.” From Latin, meaning “after death.”

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Etymology

Origin of postmortem

First recorded in 1725–35, postmortem is from Latin post mortem “after death”

Explanation

A postmortem is a medical examination of a dead body. It's a kind of autopsy done to learn exactly how the person died. In Latin, mortem is a form of the word for "death," and post means "after." A postmortem, logically enough, is something that happens after death, usually an examination. Another type of postmortem is a meeting or discussion that follows the completion of a project — this kind does not involve an actual death, but simply the end of something, like an art installation or a business venture.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

postmortem

But Russian officials downplayed the reports this week, saying that postmortem tests did not detect the disease in her body and that no special measures were in place.

From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026

The Blanchard laboratory combined findings from miBrains with preclinical models, postmortem human brain tissue, and transcriptomic data.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 1, 2026

Police Scotland said Watson's death was being treated as suspicious and a postmortem examination would take place.

From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026

In the immediate aftermath of the repeal of the proposed legislation, this academic postmortem, published in the monthly peer-reviewed journal Health Affairs, speculated that the MCCA’s failure was, indeed, partly due to financial reasons.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026

The house settled into an eerie postmortem quiet broken only by the hiss of gas lamps and the weary tick of clocks.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

Related Words

• autopsy
• dissection