ensuing
Americanadjective
adjective
-
following subsequently or in order
-
following or occurring as a consequence; resulting
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ensuing
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.
Vocabulary lists containing ensuing
I, Robot
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"Say It with Flowers" and "The Journey"
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Outcasts United
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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.
As investors clamored to buy in, the ensuing volatility triggered a brief trading halt within seconds of the first trade.
From MarketWatch • May 14, 2026
An ensuing standoff ended hours later with the chief of the National Bureau of Investigation telling reporters that they would not arrest Dela Rosa while he was in the custody of the Senate.
From BBC • May 12, 2026
After a suspect crashed during a high-speed chase, CBS Los Angeles spotted a Riverside deputy scrolling through what appeared to be a woman’s dating app profile during the ensuing standoff.
From Los Angeles Times • May 7, 2026
In the ensuing months, she privately walked back his comments.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 2, 2026
The first Adams eruption occurred in June of 1813, followed immediately by a chain reaction of explosions over the ensuing six months.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
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.
