# aft

/ˈæft/ (US) · /ˈɑːft/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/aft
Updated: 2026-08-08

## Senses

### 1. located at the back

adjective · CEFR B2 · Technical

located at or near the back of a ship, boat, or airplane.

For teachers: situated at, near, or toward the stern of a vessel or the rear of an aircraft.

- The crew gathered in the aft cabin to discuss the route.
- The aft cargo hold was reinforced to accommodate the additional weight of the backup generators during the long-haul flight.

Usage: Commonly used in nautical and aviation contexts to distinguish from 'fore'.

### 2. towards the back

adverb · CEFR B2 · Technical

towards the back part of a ship or plane.

For teachers: towards the stern or rear of a vessel or aircraft.

- The captain walked aft to check on the engines.
- As the storm intensified, the sailors were ordered to move aft to help secure the loose equipment near the rudder.

### 3. afternoon

noun · CEFR C2 · Informal · Dialect · Archaic

a short, casual way to say 'afternoon'.

For teachers: a clipped form of 'afternoon', used as a temporal noun.

- See you this aft for a cup of tea.
- He spent the entire aft working in the garden, taking advantage of the rare sunshine before the evening rain arrived.

Teaching tip: This sense is quite rare in modern standard English; learners will mostly encounter it in older texts or specific regional dialects.

## Examples

- The captain stood on the aft deck.
- We watched the sunset from the aft section of the cruise ship.
- The vessel's sleek design emphasized a low-profile aft superstructure that reduced wind resistance at high speeds.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.