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
Fluto Shinzawa, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2025
Maybe that late-September drought a year ago helped, in retrospect.
—Sam McDowell, Kansas City Star, 30 Apr. 2025
Ian Frisch, Curbed, 9 Jan. 2025
In 2010, Markowitz filmed a stunt-y (but weirdly quaint in retrospect) video of himself using an iPad to personally email Steve Jobs, asking him for a Brooklyn Apple Store.
—Zach Schiffman, Curbed, 24 Dec. 2024
Mark Danner, The New York Review of Books, 1 July 2021
See All Example Sentences for retrospect
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Noun
In retrospect, Chiarelli, former general manager of the Boston Bruins and the Oilers and current vice president of hockey operations for the St. Louis Blues, believes Carney would have been good enough to be a No. 2 goalie elsewhere in the ECAC.
—Fluto Shinzawa, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2025
Maybe that late-September drought a year ago helped, in retrospect.
—Sam McDowell, Kansas City Star, 30 Apr. 2025
Adjective
There was one moment that evening, however, that in retrospect Pope would see as a warning sign.
—Ian Frisch, Curbed, 9 Jan. 2025
In 2010, Markowitz filmed a stunt-y (but weirdly quaint in retrospect) video of himself using an iPad to personally email Steve Jobs, asking him for a Brooklyn Apple Store.
—Zach Schiffman, Curbed, 24 Dec. 2024
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 3 May. 2025.
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