Post vs. Poster: What's the Difference?
Edited by Harlon Moss || By Janet White || Updated on October 4, 2023
A "Post" typically refers to a piece of content shared online or a sturdy upright support, while a "Poster" is a printed paper designed for display.
Key Differences
"Post" and "Poster" are two distinct words, each holding its own significance in the English language. A "Post" can refer to an entry on a blog, social media, or forum, wherein users share content. For instance, individuals make a "Post" when sharing photos or updates on platforms like Facebook or Instagram. Conversely, a "Poster" specifically refers to a large printed paper, usually bearing an image, design, or message, designed to be affixed to a wall or vertical surface for public viewing.
Another sense in which "Post" is used relates to a long, sturdy piece of timber or metal erected vertically, serving as a support or marker. This might be a fence "Post" or a lamp "Post". A "Poster", in contrast, doesn't have this architectural or construction-related meaning. Its primary association is with promotional, informational, or artistic displays.
In historical contexts, a "Post" was a term used to describe mail or postal services. "Sending a post" could mean sending a letter or parcel. "Poster" doesn't have this association. Instead, a "Poster" might be something that promotes an event, film, or other activity, designed to capture attention and convey information visually.
Interestingly, "Post" can also be a verb, suggesting the action of sharing something online or putting something up, as in "to post a letter" or "to post an update". "Poster", on the other hand, remains a noun and doesn't assume a verb form in regular usage.
Comparison Chart
Primary Definition
Content shared online or an upright support
Printed paper designed for public display
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Part of Speech
Noun (also a verb, e.g., to post a letter)
Noun
Related to Construction
Yes, as in a fence post or lamp post
No
Historical Usage
Refers to mail or postal service
Promotional or informational display
Action vs. Object
Can be both (e.g., "to post an update")
Primarily an object
Post and Poster Definitions
Post
A sturdy piece used as support or marker.
The fence post needs replacing.
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Poster
An educational or informative display.
She presented a scientific poster at the conference.
Post
A long piece of wood or other material set upright into the ground to serve as a marker or support.
Poster
A visual advertisement.
The product poster was eye-catching.
Post
A support for a beam in the framework of a building.
Poster
A person who sends a message or content online.
An anonymous poster shared the news.
Post
A terminal of a battery.
Poster
Representing a particular style or kind.
He's a poster child for success.
Post
(Sports) A goal post.
Poster
A large, usually printed placard, bill, or announcement, often illustrated, that is posted to advertise or publicize something.
Post
The starting point at a racetrack.
Poster
An artistic work, often a reproduction of an original painting or photograph, printed on a large sheet of paper.
Post
The slender barlike part of a stud earring that passes through the ear and is secured at the back with a small cap or clip.
Poster
One that posts bills or notices.
Post
An electronic message sent to and displayed on an online forum
Ignored several inflammatory posts.
Poster
One that travels in speed or with haste.
Post
A military base.
Poster
A picture of a celebrity, an event etc., intended to be attached to a wall.
He has posters of his favorite band, sports teams and holiday resorts up.
Post
The grounds and buildings of a military base.
Poster
An advertisement to be posted on a pole, wall etc. to advertise something.
I saw a poster for the film on the side of a bus.
Post
A local organization of military veterans.
Poster
(internet) One who posts a message.
Some posters left the online message board after the squabble.
Post
Either of two bugle calls in the British Army, sounded in the evening as a signal to retire to quarters.
Poster
A shot that hits a goalpost, scoring one point.
Post
An assigned position or station, as of a guard or sentry.
Poster
A shot that hits a goalpost instead of passing into the goal.
We got three posters in the third and lost.
Post
(Basketball) A position usually taken by the center close to the basket or below the foul line, serving as the focus of the team's offense.
Poster
(basketball) A dunk over a defending player.
Post
A position of employment, especially an appointed public office.
Poster
(dated) A posthorse.
Post
A place to which someone is assigned for duty.
Poster
(archaic) A swift traveller; a courier.
Post
A trading post.
Poster
(transitive) To decorate with posters.
To poster the walls of a bedroom
Post
A postal system.
Poster
A large bill or placard intended to be posted in public places.
Post
A post office.
Poster
One who posts bills; a billposter.
Post
A delivery or amount of mail
Waiting for the morning's post to arrive.
Poster
One who posts, or travels expeditiously; a courier.
Post
One of a series of relay stations along a fixed route, furnishing fresh riders and horses for the delivery of mail on horseback.
Poster
A post horse.
Post
A rider on such a mail route; a courier.
Poster
A sign posted in a public place as an advertisement;
A poster advertised the coming attractions
Post
To display (an announcement) in a place of public view.
Poster
Someone who pastes up bills or placards on walls or billboards
Post
To cover (a wall, for example) with posters.
Poster
A horse kept at an inn or post house for use by mail carriers or for rent to travelers
Post
To announce by or as if by posters
Post banns.
Poster
A large printed picture or notice for public display.
The movie poster was hung outside the cinema.
Post
(Computers) To make (an electronic message) available by sending it to an online forum
Posted a response to a question about car engines.
Post
To put up signs on (property) warning against trespassing.
Post
To denounce publicly
Post a man as a thief.
Post
To publish (a name) on a list.
Post
(Games) To gain (points or a point) in a game or contest; score.
Post
To assign to a specific position or station
Post a sentry at the gate.
Post
To appoint to a naval or military command.
Post
To put forward; present
Post bail.
Post
Chiefly British To mail (a letter or package).
Post
(Archaic) To send by mail in a system of relays on horseback.
Post
To inform of the latest news
Keep us posted.
Post
To transfer (an item) to a ledger in bookkeeping.
Post
To make the necessary entries in (a ledger).
Post
(Computers) To enter (a unit of information) on a record or into a section of storage.
Post
To travel in stages or relays.
Post
To travel with speed or in haste.
Post
To bob up and down in the saddle in rhythm with a horse's trotting gait.
Post
With great speed; rapidly.
Post
By post horse.
Post
A long dowel or plank protruding from the ground; a fencepost; a lightpost.
Ram a post into the ground
Post
(construction) A stud; a two-by-four.
Post
A pole in a battery.
Post
(dentistry) A long, narrow piece inserted into a root canal to provide retention for a crown.
Post
A prolonged final melody note, among moving harmony notes.
Post
A printing paper size measuring 19.25 inches x 15.5 inches.
Post
(sports) A goalpost.
Post
A location on a basketball court near the basket.
Post
(obsolete) The doorpost of a victualler's shop or inn, on which were chalked the scores of customers; hence, a score; a debt.
Post
The vertical part of a crochet stitch.
Post
(obsolete) Each of a series of men stationed at specific places along a postroad, with responsibility for relaying letters and dispatches of the monarch (and later others) along the route.
Post
(dated) A station, or one of a series of stations, established for the refreshment and accommodation of travellers on some recognized route.
A stage or railway post
Post
A military base; the place at which a soldier or a body of troops is stationed; also, the troops at such a station.
Post
Someone who travels express along a set route carrying letters and dispatches; a courier.
Post
An organisation for delivering letters, parcels etc., or the service provided by such an organisation.
Sent via post; parcel post
Post
A single delivery of letters; the letters or deliveries that make up a single batch delivered to one person or one address.
Post
A message posted in an electronic or Internet forum, or on a blog, etc.
Post
(American football) A moderate to deep passing route in which a receiver runs 10-20 yards from the line of scrimmage straight down the field, then cuts toward the middle of the field (towards the facing goalposts) at a 45-degree angle.
Two of the receivers ran post patterns.
Post
(obsolete) Haste or speed, like that of a messenger or mail carrier.
Post
(obsolete) One who has charge of a station, especially a postal station.
Post
An assigned station; a guard post.
Post
An appointed position in an organization, job.
Post
Post-production.
We'll fix it in post
Post
A post mortem investigation of body's cause of death.
Post
(transitive) To hang (a notice) in a conspicuous manner for general review.
Post no bills.
Post
To hold up to public blame or reproach; to advertise opprobriously; to denounce by public proclamation.
To post someone for cowardice
Post
(accounting) To carry (an account) from the journal to the ledger.
Post
To inform; to give the news to; to make acquainted with the details of a subject; often with up.
Post
To pay down (the stake).
Post
To pay (a blind).
Since Jim was new to the game, he had to post $4 in order to receive a hand.
Post
To travel with relays of horses; to travel by post horses, originally as a courier.
Post
To travel quickly; to hurry.
Post
To send (an item of mail etc.) through the postal service.
Mail items posted before 7.00pm within the Central Business District and before 5.00pm outside the Central Business District will be delivered the next working day.
Post
(horse-riding) To rise and sink in the saddle, in accordance with the motion of the horse, especially in trotting.
Post
(Internet) To publish (a message) to a newsgroup, forum, blog, etc.
I couldn't figure it out, so I posted a question on the mailing list.
Post
To enter (a name) on a list, as for service, promotion, etc.
Post
To assign to a station; to set; to place.
Post a sentinel in front of the door.
Post
With the post, on post-horses; by a relay of horses (changing at every staging-post); hence, express, with speed, quickly.
Post
Sent via the postal service.
Post
After; especially after a significant event that has long-term ramifications.
Post
Hired to do what is wrong; suborned.
Post
A piece of timber, metal, or other solid substance, fixed, or to be fixed, firmly in an upright position, especially when intended as a stay or support to something else; a pillar; as, a hitching post; a fence post; the posts of a house.
They shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper doorpost of the houses.
Then by main force pulled up, and on his shoulders bore,The gates of Azza, post and massy bar.
Unto his order he was a noble post.
Post
The doorpost of a victualer's shop or inn, on which were chalked the scores of customers; hence, a score; a debt.
When God sends coinI will discharge your post.
Post
The place at which anything is stopped, placed, or fixed; a station.
Post
A messenger who goes from station; an express; especially, one who is employed by the government to carry letters and parcels regularly from one place to another; a letter carrier; a postman.
In certain places there be always fresh posts, to carry that further which is brought unto them by the other.
I fear my Julia would not deign my lines,Receiving them from such a worthless post.
Post
An established conveyance for letters from one place or station to another; especially, the governmental system in any country for carrying and distributing letters and parcels; the post office; the mail; hence, the carriage by which the mail is transported.
I send you the fair copy of the poem on dullness, which I should not care to hazard by the common post.
Post
Haste or speed, like that of a messenger or mail carrier.
Post
One who has charge of a station, especially of a postal station.
He held office of postmaster, or, as it was then called, post, for several years.
Post
A station, office, or position of service, trust, or emolument; as, the post of duty; the post of danger.
The post of honor is a private station.
Post
A size of printing and writing paper. See the Table under Paper.
Post
To attach to a post, a wall, or other usual place of affixing public notices; to placard; as, to post a notice; to post playbills.
Post
To hold up to public blame or reproach; to advertise opprobriously; to denounce by public proclamation; as, to post one for cowardice.
On pain of being posted to your sorrowFail not, at four, to meet me.
Post
To enter (a name) on a list, as for service, promotion, or the like.
Post
To assign to a station; to set; to place; as, to post a sentinel.
Post
To carry, as an account, from the journal to the ledger; as, to post an account; to transfer, as accounts, to the ledger.
You have not posted your books these ten years.
Post
To place in the care of the post; to mail; as, to post a letter.
Post
To inform; to give the news to; to make (one) acquainted with the details of a subject; - often with up.
Thoroughly posted up in the politics and literature of the day.
Post
To travel with post horses; figuratively, to travel in haste.
And post o'er land and ocean without rest.
Post
To rise and sink in the saddle, in accordance with the motion of the horse, esp. in trotting.
Post
With post horses; hence, in haste; as, to travel post.
Post
The position where someone (as a guard or sentry) stands or is assigned to stand;
A soldier manned the entrance post
A sentry station
Post
Military installation at which a body of troops is stationed;
This military post provides an important source of income for the town nearby
There is an officer's club on the post
Post
A job in an organization;
He occupied a post in the treasury
Post
An upright consisting of a piece of timber or metal fixed firmly in an upright position;
He set a row of posts in the ground and strung barbwire between them
Post
United States aviator who in 1933 made the first solo flight around the world (1899-1935)
Post
United States female author who wrote a book and a syndicated newspaper column on etiquette (1872-1960)
Post
United States manufacturer of breakfast cereals and Postum (1854-1914)
Post
Any particular collection of letters or packages that is delivered;
Your mail is on the table
Is there any post for me?
She was opening her post
Post
A pole or stake set up to mark something (as the start or end of a race track);
A pair of posts marked the goal
The corner of the lot was indicated by a stake
Post
The system whereby messages are transmitted via the post office;
The mail handles billions of items every day
He works for the United States mail service
In England they call mail `the post'
Post
The delivery and collection of letters and packages;
It came by the first post
If you hurry you'll catch the post
Post
Affix in a public place or for public notice;
Post a warning
Post
Publicize with, or as if with, a poster;
I'll post the news on the bulletin board
Post
Assign to a post; put into a post;
The newspaper posted him in Timbuktu
Post
Assign to a station
Post
Display, as of records in sports games
Post
Enter on a public list
Post
Transfer (entries) from one account book to another
Post
Ride Western style and bob up and down in the saddle in in rhythm with a horse's trotting gait
Post
Mark with a stake;
Stake out the path
Post
Put up;
Post a sign
Post a warning at the dump
Post
Cause to be directed or transmitted to another place;
Send me your latest results
I'll mail you the paper when it's written
Post
Mark or expose as infamous;
She was branded a loose woman
Post
Content shared on blogs, forums, or social media.
She shared a new post about her vacation.
Post
Related to mail or postal service.
I'll send it by post.
Post
A job or position in an organization.
He accepted a post in the foreign office.
Post
To share something online or display publicly.
I'll post the announcement in the morning.
FAQs
How is "Poster" typically used?
A printed paper designed for display on walls or vertical surfaces.
Can "Post" relate to mail services?
Yes, historically it referred to postal services and mail.
Is "Poster" always about promotional content?
Not always, it can be artistic, informative, or educational.
Can "Post" be a verb?
Yes, as in "to post a letter" or "to post an update."
What might be an online "Post"?
A blog entry, social media update, or forum message.
How are "Post" and "Poster" different in social media contexts?
A "Post" is content shared, while a "Poster" refers to the person sharing.
Does "Poster" have a verb form?
No, it's primarily a noun referring to a type of display.
Can "Post" mean a job position?
Yes, as in "a post at a company."
Is "Poster" always large in size?
Often, but size can vary based on its purpose and location.
What's the primary meaning of "Post"?
It refers to content shared online or a sturdy upright support.
Can "Poster" be digital?
Typically, it refers to physical displays, but in modern contexts can mean digital visuals.
Can "Poster" be used metaphorically?
Yes, as in "poster child" representing a particular characteristic.
Where might one see a "Poster"?
On walls, bulletin boards, public places, or events.
Is a fence "Post" related to online "Post"?
No, they are different meanings of the same word.
What's a "lamp post"?
A tall post with a light at the top.
Does "Post" have any historical significance?
Yes, it historically referred to mail or postal services.
Is a "Poster" interactive?
Typically, no, it's a visual display.
Does "Poster" only refer to movie promotions?
No, it can represent various topics from art to information.
How do "Post" and "Poster" relate in digital contexts?
A "Post" is the content; a "Poster" can be the person sharing.
Is "Post" always tangible?
No, it can be digital or physical.
About Author
Written by
Janet WhiteJanet White has been an esteemed writer and blogger for Difference Wiki. Holding a Master's degree in Science and Medical Journalism from the prestigious Boston University, she has consistently demonstrated her expertise and passion for her field. When she's not immersed in her work, Janet relishes her time exercising, delving into a good book, and cherishing moments with friends and family.
Edited by
Harlon MossHarlon is a seasoned quality moderator and accomplished content writer for Difference Wiki. An alumnus of the prestigious University of California, he earned his degree in Computer Science. Leveraging his academic background, Harlon brings a meticulous and informed perspective to his work, ensuring content accuracy and excellence.
