Tell me more ×
English Language & Usage Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 3 down vote favorite

Posthumous is the word used to denote that something occurred after someone's death. Is there a word that could be used for after one's career? The best I got is postcurricular, but I think that is more specific towards after one's schooling.

Here is an example of what I am shooting for:

He received the award posthumously.

He received the email post __?

As a side note, I could use post employment, but that is not what I'm looking for.

share|improve this question
4  
He received the award in retirement. – FumbleFingers Apr 9 '12 at 21:39
@FumbleFingers That is a pretty good one. – AedonEtLIRA Apr 9 '12 at 21:43
But it doesn't fit OP's request for an analogue to "humously" (which imho makes the question too localised, so I've voted to close). – FumbleFingers Apr 9 '12 at 21:46
1  
@FumbleFingers: how is that too localized? Also, they're just looking to fill a lexical gap. so what if it doesn't fit exactly what they asked for; you've given an analog to posthumously which is good enough. – Mitch Apr 9 '12 at 21:52
@Mitch: Everyone dies, and they certainly can't argue about their status there. But many people never really have a specific date before death, but after which their "career" is definitely over. No single word or expression can really be suitable for all contexts. – FumbleFingers Apr 9 '12 at 22:02

2 Answers

up vote 2 down vote accepted

If you're really determined to use a post- prefix, I suppose you could say postvocationally.

share|improve this answer
Kinda falls into the postcirricular category, but I can see it. – AedonEtLIRA Apr 9 '12 at 22:30
I kinda hate to downvote a good try here, but apparently post-vocationally has already been co-opted to mean after starting in the work environment, not after leaving it. – FumbleFingers Apr 10 '12 at 15:42
up vote 2 down vote

Before reading @FumbleFingers in retirement, I would have said post-retirement. I would consider his comment better, but thought I'd throw this out for your consideration.

share|improve this answer
1  
Except that post-retirement means after retirement- with retirement refering to the full period of one's life after they've retired and not to the act of retiring itself. So post-retirement would be 'in death' – Jim Apr 9 '12 at 23:27
Retirement can refer to the action or the state; both NOAD and M-W define it as action first and then state (both linking them very closely, however). I don't think my answer is wrong, and if used in context, I think there is little opportunity for confusion. – zpletan Apr 10 '12 at 2:28

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.