Ex Post Facto Definition

ĕks pōst făktō
adjective
Done or made afterward, esp. when having retroactive effect.
An ex post facto law.
Webster's New World
Formulated, enacted, or operating retroactively.
American Heritage

Retroactive.

Wiktionary
Synonyms:
noun
Latin. After the fact.
Webster's New World Law

Origin of Ex Post Facto

  • Latin ex postfactō ex from postfactō ablative of postfactum that which is done afterward

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • From Latin ex (“from”) + post (“after”) + facto, ablative of factum (“deed”)

    From Wiktionary

Ex Post Facto Sentence Examples

  • But this ex post facto argument is the sole proof of this view; and it is quite insufficient to prove the accusation.

  • From one point of view they shadow out the great epic of the destinies of the human race; again, the universal solar myth claims a share in them; hoary traditions were brought into ex post facto connexion with them; or they served to commemorate simple meteorological and astronomical facts.

  • An aetiological myth is one which is regarded as having been invented ex post facto to explain some fact, name or coincidence, the true account or origin of which has been forgotten.

  • Darwinia reminds one of Conan Doyle's Lost World, another candidate for ex post facto elevation to Steamhood.

Related Articles

Find Similar Words

Find similar words to ex post facto using the buttons below.

Words Starting With

EEX

Words Ending With

OTOCTO

Unscrambles

ex post facto

Words Starting With E and Ending With O

Starts With E & Ends With OStarts With EX & Ends With OStarts With E & Ends With TO

Word Length

13 Letter Words13 Letter Words Starting With E13 Letter Words Ending With O