post hoc
adjective
ˈpōst-ˈhäk 
1
: relating to or being the fallacy of arguing from temporal sequence to a causal relation
2
: formulated after the fact
a post hoc rationalization
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web Not post hoc loan forgiveness, but tuition-free education or enticements to enroll. 
Bonnie Kristian, The Week, 1 June 2021 Biogen later worked with the FDA on post hoc review of the trials that found some marginal improvement. Zachary B. Wolf, CNN, 20 July 2021 But restricting these post hoc rationalizations serve important values, Chief Justice Roberts wrote. Henry Gass, The Christian Science Monitor, 19 June 2020 In a hyperpolarized system such as ours (as opposed to a European parliamentary government), what seem to be inevitable political coalitions are just as often post hoc frameworks grafted on top of marriages of convenience. Thomas Chatterton Williams, Harper's magazine, 20 Jan. 2020 Lowell’s eventual return to Hardwick, and his almost shamed gratitude to her for permitting him to come back to a life led in common, put a post hoc frame around the dramatic vicissitudes and fantasies of the flight to Blackwood. Helen Vendler, Harper's magazine, 20 Jan. 2020 One thing both sides seems to agree on is that omission amounts to punishment, a post hoc retraction of playing-day success. New York Times, 20 July 2019 Our cancel culture relies on the unpredictability and post hoc nature of the enforcement to instill a spirit of creative and preemptive conformity among those with something to lose. Michael Brendan Dougherty, National Review, 2 July 2019 But these, deCervo likes to point out, are post hoc variables. Zach Schonbrun, New York Times, 13 Apr. 2018 See More
Bonnie Kristian, The Week, 1 June 2021 Biogen later worked with the FDA on post hoc review of the trials that found some marginal improvement. Zachary B. Wolf, CNN, 20 July 2021 But restricting these post hoc rationalizations serve important values, Chief Justice Roberts wrote. Henry Gass, The Christian Science Monitor, 19 June 2020 In a hyperpolarized system such as ours (as opposed to a European parliamentary government), what seem to be inevitable political coalitions are just as often post hoc frameworks grafted on top of marriages of convenience. Thomas Chatterton Williams, Harper's magazine, 20 Jan. 2020 Lowell’s eventual return to Hardwick, and his almost shamed gratitude to her for permitting him to come back to a life led in common, put a post hoc frame around the dramatic vicissitudes and fantasies of the flight to Blackwood. Helen Vendler, Harper's magazine, 20 Jan. 2020 One thing both sides seems to agree on is that omission amounts to punishment, a post hoc retraction of playing-day success. New York Times, 20 July 2019 Our cancel culture relies on the unpredictability and post hoc nature of the enforcement to instill a spirit of creative and preemptive conformity among those with something to lose. Michael Brendan Dougherty, National Review, 2 July 2019 But these, deCervo likes to point out, are post hoc variables. Zach Schonbrun, New York Times, 13 Apr. 2018 See More Word History
Etymology
New Latin post hoc, ergo propter hoc after this, therefore because of this
First Known Use
1704, in the meaning defined at sense 1