ret·ro·spect
ˈre-trə-ˌspekt 
1
: a review of or meditation on past events
2
archaic
: reference to or regard of a precedent or authority
retrospected; retrospecting; retrospects
: to go back over in thought
Examples of retrospect in a Sentence
Noun
in retrospect, we should have saved more money for college
Recent Examples on the Web
The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 19 Sep. 2025
In retrospect, that jury seemed more sympathetic to the defense’s case than the one that ultimately found Wenger guilty after less than a full day of deliberation.
—Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 19 Sep. 2025
David Remnick, New Yorker, 26 Sep. 2025
In retrospect, that jury seemed more sympathetic to the defense’s case than the one that ultimately found Wenger guilty after less than a full day of deliberation.
—Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 19 Sep. 2025
Mark Danner, The New York Review of Books, 1 July 2021
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Noun
The 1983 invasion of this tiny Caribbean island by the United States military may seem comical in retrospect.
—The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 19 Sep. 2025
In retrospect, that jury seemed more sympathetic to the defense’s case than the one that ultimately found Wenger guilty after less than a full day of deliberation.
—Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 19 Sep. 2025
Adjective
Bill Clinton, in ways that in retrospect look ridiculous, drove the right crazy.
—David Remnick, New Yorker, 26 Sep. 2025
In retrospect, that jury seemed more sympathetic to the defense’s case than the one that ultimately found Wenger guilty after less than a full day of deliberation.
—Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 19 Sep. 2025
Verb
In retrospect the unfolding of Watergate in the press and the courts and Congress is our American Oresteia.
—Mark Danner, The New York Review of Books, 1 July 2021
See All Example Sentences for retrospect
Cite this Entry
“Retrospect.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/retrospect. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.
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