after the fact
Once already done
After the fact means following an event, especially when the timing matters legally or practically.
An after-the-fact rationalization is one invented to justify a decision already made.
In law, an accessory after the fact is someone who helps a criminal after the crime has been committed.
The phrase often implies that something came too late to be useful or legitimate: They changed the rules after the fact.
- subsequentOccurring after something else
- ex post factoEnacted after the fact
- post hocAfter the event
- hindsightRecognition after the fact
- in retrospectConsidering past events now
retrospective · looking back · realization · second guessing · aftermath · later · aftereffects · ramification · backdated · evaluation · legacy · outcome · accountability · analysis · ensuing · consequence · result · regret
- criminal complicityaccomplice, accessory, aiding and abetting, co-conspirator, complicity
after the factbeforehand
In advance
in advance · ahead of time · prior · previously · ex ante
after the factproactively
Acting before required
preventively · preemptively · prophylactically · anticipatorily · preventatively
after, fact, facts, factual, factually, factoid, factorial, factory, factories