Dictionary

post hoc en · ADJ · etymology 1

Etymology

From Latin post hoc.

Meanings

1. After the fact.
   • Even at time of writing, it is not remotely clear what has or hasn’t been happening – whether a smaller private wedding had taken place in advance and this was all a post-hoc celebration, whether the size of the venue meant some superfans would be admitted for a glimpse, whether – and this is a big plotline – heavily oxidised former BFF Blake Lively would be a bridesmaid, or even attending at all. 2026 July 3, Marina Hyde, “The US turns 250 and Taylor Swift gets married. I think we all know which is a bigger deal”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 03 Jul 2026:
   • But I knew that my reasoning was post hoc, and another voice came in, mocking me, reminding me that post hoc reasoning is the consolation of the psychotic 2008, Rivka Galchen, Atmospheric disturbances, page 40:
   • The interpretations offered in this section are clearly much more post hoc than in my discussion of the informants' patterns. 2001, Penelope Eckert with John R. Rickford, Style and sociolinguistic variation, page 155:
   • Our work on using research was post hoc rather than planned as an integral part of the original study. 1986, Ralph B. Taylor, Urban neighborhoods: research and policy, page 239:

Forms

post hoc en · ADV · etymology 1

Etymology

From Latin post hoc.

Meanings

1. After the fact.
   • Ultimately, the wisdom of preemption will be judged post hoc. 2005 Fall, David B. Rivkin Jr., “THE VIRTUES OF PREEMPTIVE DETERRENCE”, in Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, volume 29, number 1, page 85:

Forms

Translations (4)

et sündmusejärgselt (after the fact) · he בְּדִיעֲבַד (after the fact) · nl nadien (after the fact) · nl na de gebeurtenis. (after the fact)

post hoc en · NOUN · etymology 2

Etymology

From Latin post hoc ergō propter hoc.

Meanings

1. An instance of the post hoc ergō propter hoc fallacy, in which temporal order is confused with causation.
   • ... or walking under a ladder brings bad luck; belief in astrology; fear of the number thirteen. Advertisers play upon our weakness for post hocs 1966, Lew Sarett with William Trufant Foster, Basic principles of speech, page 302:
   • But I knew that my reasoning was post hoc, and another voice came in, mocking me, reminding me that post hoc reasoning is the consolation of the psychotic 2008, Rivka Galchen, Atmospheric disturbances, page 40:
   • or that it is altogether fair to accumulate the post hocs with their inevitable suggestion of propter 1919, George Saintsbury, A History of the French novel (to the close of the 19th century), page 422:
   • More grim were the post hocs of the ancient Aztecs. In their experience rain had followed the season of sacrificial rites, and they believed that .... 1958, Stuart Chase, Guides to straight thinking: with 13 common fallacies - Page 76:
   • Accordingly, most of the time it is sufficient to draw lines of post hocs and to make a distinction between causes and symptoms in an almost graphic way. 2006, Gerd Gigerenzer with Christoph Engel, Heuristics and the law, page 332:

Forms

Deriveds

posthockery