consequent
Americanadjective
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following as an effect or result; resulting (often followed by on, upon, orto ).
a fall in price consequent to a rise in production.
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following as a logical conclusion.
a consequent law.
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following or progressing logically.
consequent reasoning.
noun
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anything that follows upon something else, with or without a causal relationship.
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Logic. the second member of a conditional proposition, as “Caesar was a great general” in “If Caesar conquered Gaul, he was a great general.”
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Mathematics.
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the second term of a ratio.
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the second of two vectors in a dyad.
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adjective
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following as an effect or result
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following as a logical conclusion or by rational argument
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(of a river) flowing in the direction of the original slope of the land or dip of the strata
noun
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something that follows something else, esp as a result
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logic the resultant clause in a conditional sentence
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logic the fallacy of inferring the antecedent of a conditional sentence, given the truth of the conditional and its consequent, as if John is six feet tall, he's more than five feet: he's more than five feet so he's six feet
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an obsolete term for denominator
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of consequent
1350–1400; Middle English (noun) < Latin consequent- (stem of consequēns, present participle of consequī to follow closely). See con-, sequent
Explanation
Something that happens as a result of something else can be described as consequent. Rapidly melting snow often causes consequent flooding, for example. A politician might talk about raising the minimum wage and consequent improvements in workers' lives — in other words, she believes the positive changes for workers would be a direct result of higher minimum pay. One thing would follow the other. You're most likely to come across the adjective consequent in formal speech or writing. The Latin root word is consequi, "to follow after."
Vocabulary lists containing consequent
Tier 2 Words for the SBAC ELA Items
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Content Summary G.4: Human Adaptations to the Physical Environment
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Common Core Grade 6, List 8
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
What that means is that if one car is still deploying energy when another is recovering, there is a near-500bhp offset in engine power - and a consequent massive speed differential.
From BBC • Apr. 3, 2026
Investors will be watching these figures to gauge how the economy has fared since the start of the war in the Middle East and the consequent spike in energy prices.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026
"The study really shows that there are big knowledge gaps across the supply chain, in terms of the hazards people are being exposed to, the consequent health impacts, and who is being exposed," Buonocore said.
From Science Daily • Nov. 20, 2025
The study is a 10-year effort to study the exposures to dangerous substances and consequent health effects.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 2, 2025
The literature of veterinary medicine abounds in similar examples: swine eating sprayed cockleburs with consequent severe illness, lambs eating sprayed thistles, bees poisoned by pasturing on mustard sprayed after it came into bloom.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
