postcolonial

adjective

post·​co·​lo·​nial ˌpōst-kə-ˈlō-nē-əl How to pronounce postcolonial (audio)
-nyəl
: of, relating to, or being a time after colonialism
postcolonial America
Carter was the first American president to take seriously the entire postcolonial era that has remade the globe since World War II.—Garry Wills

Examples of postcolonial in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The postal subsidy helped enhance paper circulation both in the colonial and postcolonial periods. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 26 May 2026 Some of the best scenes in Clarissa are when the young friends gather around the table to debate the state of postcolonial literature and the irony of a newly democratic nation under military rule. — Lovia Gyarkye, HollywoodReporter, 16 May 2026 The body of commentary that has developed since, particularly in the field of postcolonial studies, has traced the ways in which uninvited borrowings follow the vectors of asymmetrical power relations. — Glenn Adamson, Artforum, 2 May 2026 Ferhat Abbas, the first postcolonial Algerian president, got his political training running a football team when his nation was under French control. — Franklin Leonard, Vanity Fair, 14 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for postcolonial

Word History

First Known Use

1883, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of postcolonial was in 1883

Rhymes for postcolonial

See All Rhymes for postcolonial

Browse Nearby Words

postcollegiate
postcolonial
postcommissural
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Postcolonial.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/postcolonial. Accessed 10 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 10
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All