AFTER ALL

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does after all mean? 

• AFTER ALL (adverb)
  The adverb AFTER ALL has 2 senses:

1. emphasizes something to be considered

2. in spite of expectations

  Familiarity information: AFTER ALL used as an adverb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• AFTER ALL (adverb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Emphasizes something to be considered

Context example:

he is, after all, our president

Sense 2

Meaning:

In spite of expectations

Context example:

it didn't rain after all

 Context examples 

This gentleman speaks of footsteps in the grass, but, after all, it is easy to be mistaken on such a point.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Your tidiness won’t bear much strain after all, Watson.”

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Oh, come, it may prove to be something of interest, after all.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Remember, after all, that I am only a child.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

After all, pure spirit was unknowable, a thing to be sensed and divined only; nor could it express itself in terms of itself.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Yet must we be satisfied; in the first place because we have to be—no other means is at our control—and secondly, because, after all, these things—tradition and superstition—are everything.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

It was unreasonable that he should die after all he had undergone.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Why, I ain't sich an infernal lubber after all.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Again, in the course of my life, which had been, after all, nine tenths a life of effort, virtue and control, it had been much less exercised and much less exhausted.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Ultimate; final; remaining after all deductions, outlay, or loss.

(Net, NCI Thesaurus)