Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Concerned with or related to the past: Looking back on or dealing with past events or situations.
   • (Law) Effective from a past date: Having legal force or application from a date in the past.

2. Noun:

   • An exhibition of a representative selection of an artist's life work: A show presenting a comprehensive overview of an artist's career, typically held late in their career or posthumously.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • The new tax law is not retrospective; it only applies to future income.
  • After the accident, his analysis was purely retrospective, focusing on what could have been done differently.
• Noun:
  • The museum is hosting a major retrospective of the painter's work from the 1960s to the present.
  • The film festival featured a retrospective on classic Hollywood directors.

Advanced Usage

• "In retrospect": (A related adverbial phrase) When looking back on a past event.
  • In retrospect, investing in that company was a wise decision.
• "Retrospective analysis": An examination or study of past events to understand them.
  • The committee conducted a retrospective analysis of the project's failures.

Variants and Related Words

• Retrospect (n): A survey or review of a past course of events or period of time.
  • In retrospect, the signs of the problem were clear.
• Retrospectively (adv): In a way that relates to or considers the past.
  • The policy was applied retrospectively.
• Retrospection (n): The action of looking back on or reviewing past events.

Synonyms

• Adjective: Backward-looking, review, ex post facto.
• Noun: Review, survey, exhibition, showcase.

Antonyms

• Adjective: Prospective, forward-looking, future.

Related Phrases

• Retrospective pay: Payment for work done in a past period.
  • The union negotiated a retrospective pay increase for the last six months.
• Retrospective fear: (Psychology) Anxiety about past actions or events.
  • She was plagued by retrospective fear about her choices.

Adjective

1. concerned with or related to the past
   • retrospective self-justification

Noun

1. an exhibition of a representative selection of an artist's life work