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
see also:
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
Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 Apr. 2026
Then Miami gave Jovic a four-year, $62 million deal that seemed defensible at the time but now stands as a regrettable mistake, in retrospect.
—Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 10 Apr. 2026
Literary Hub, 15 Apr. 2026
Yet the pattern is blessed only in retrospect.
—Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 13 Apr. 2026
Mark Danner, The New York Review of Books, 1 July 2021
See All Example Sentences for retrospect
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Noun
The pace of hyperinflation may seem swift and unrelenting, especially in retrospect, but its warning signs are typically visible long before the crisis reaches its most destructive phase.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 Apr. 2026
Then Miami gave Jovic a four-year, $62 million deal that seemed defensible at the time but now stands as a regrettable mistake, in retrospect.
—Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 10 Apr. 2026
Adjective
The novel reads, in retrospect, less like exaggeration than reportage from inside a culture already learning to treat life as publicity.
—Literary Hub, 15 Apr. 2026
Yet the pattern is blessed only in retrospect.
—Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 13 Apr. 2026
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 20 Apr. 2026.
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