後世|こうせいkousei[1]atamadaka (head-high)

1. noun, adverbposterity; future generations; future life
   これらの絵えは後世こうせいの人々ひとびとのためにここに残のこされる。↗

   These paintings will be left here for posterity.

• Synonym後代こうだいWrittenLater ages; largely interchangeable with 「後世」, but more literary and much rarer.
• Related子孫しそんNeutralActual people who carry on the bloodline — your descendants. 「後世」 means later ages and the people living then, with no bloodline implied.
• Related後裔こうえいWrittenDistant descendants of a particular person or family line, as in 「名門の後裔」. 「後世」 never implies bloodline.
• Related末々すえずえNeutralCan mean the distant future, descendants, or even the common people of lower standing; an old-fashioned tone. 「後世」 centers on later ages as a whole.
• Related子々孫々ししそんそんNeutralStresses descendants generation after generation, as in 「子々孫々まで伝える」. Blood descendants only; 「後世」 means the people of later times.
• Related後胤こういんWrittenDescendants of a family line, especially noble ones; archaic and literary. Say 「子孫」 in everyday speech.
• Related児孫じそんWrittenOne's own children and grandchildren; mostly in set phrases. Say 「子孫」 normally; 「後世」 is not tied to bloodline.
• Related後葉こうようWrittenAn archaic word that can mean posterity or descendants; also the medical term posterior pituitary. Not used in daily speech.
• Related末孫まっそんWrittenRemote descendants by blood; old-fashioned and literary. 「後世」 refers to later ages and their people, regardless of lineage.
• Related後昆こうこんWrittenA Sino-Japanese archaism for the people of later ages or for descendants; extremely rare. Modern Japanese uses 「後世」 or 「子孫」.
• Antonym前世ぜんせいNeutralIn Buddhism's three existences, the life one lived before birth — the opposite of the afterlife sense of 「後世」.
• Antonym現世げんせNeutralThis present life, the one now being lived — opposed to the afterlife and later ages that 「後世」 can denote.
• Antonymうつし世うつしよWrittenA poetic native-Japanese name for the real world of the living, set against the afterlife and posterity; mostly in literature.

Use 「後世」 for later ages — as in 「後世に伝える」 or 「後世の評価」 — and for the afterlife. For blood descendants say 「子孫」, or 「子々孫々」 to stress transmission down the generations. Most other near-synonyms are archaic literary terms; the antonyms cover previous lives and this world.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

1. 死後しごの世界せかい。
2. 自分じぶん達たちが生いきている時代じだいの後あとの世代せだい。
3. 後の世のちのよ。
4. 後の世のちのよの人ひと。子孫しそん。