Consequent means following as a result or logical outcome of something else. When one thing causes another to happen, the second thing is consequent to the first. If you study hard for a spelling bee, your improved performance is consequent to all that practice. If a town experiences heavy rainfall and consequent flooding, the flooding follows as a natural result of the rain.

The word emphasizes the connection between cause and effect. Scientists talk about consequent changes in an ecosystem after a new species arrives. A business might experience consequent growth after launching a popular product. The key idea is that one event flows logically from another.

You might hear lawyers or debaters use this word when building arguments: “If we accept this premise, then the consequent conclusion must be...” They're showing how one idea leads naturally to the next.

Consequent is closely related to consequence, but they work differently. A consequence is the result itself (like getting grounded), while consequent describes something that follows as a result (the consequent loss of your weekend plans).