secondary effects
Downstream ripple results
Secondary effects are consequences that follow from an initial cause indirectly, through intermediate steps rather than immediately.
A factory closing is the primary effect of an economic downturn; the restaurants and shops that fail afterward suffer secondary effects.
The term appears in medical contexts for side effects that emerge from treating a condition rather than from the condition itself, and in military usage for unintended damage beyond the immediate target: The bombing's secondary effects displaced thousands of civilians.
- rippleMinor surface disturbance
- aftermathResults following an event
- consequencesResults of actions taken
- falloutPost-blast atmospheric particles
- dominoRectangular game piece
cascade · unintended · unintended consequences · collateral · collateral damage · spillover · trickle down · reverberations · backlash · blowback · residual · downstream · down the line · indirect · byproduct · ramifications · echoes · aftershock
- consequencesconsequence, consequences, result, results, outcome
- Aftereffectsaftermath, aftershock, fallout, backlash, collateral damage
- emergency stagesacute phase, crisis, preparation, response, onset
secondary, second, secondarily, effect, effects, effective, effectively, effectiveness, ineffective