retrospective

play

adjective ret·ro·spec·tive \-ˈspek-tiv\

Definition of retrospective

1a (1) : of, relating to, or given to retrospection (2) : based on memory a retrospective reportb : being a retrospective a retrospective exhibition
2 : affecting things past : retroactive retrospective laws
3 : relating to or being a study (as of a disease) that starts with the present condition of a population of individuals and collects data about their past history to explain their present condition

retrospectively

adverb

See retrospective defined for English-language learners

See retrospective defined for kids

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Examples of retrospective in a Sentence

They issued a retrospective report.
a retrospective analysis of what went wrong
The museum is having a retrospective exhibit of the artist's early works.

Recent Examples of retrospective from the Web

Which is one reason why a short film by Italian artist Marisa Merz at the start of her retrospective exhibition at the UCLA Hammer Museum is so beguiling.

— christopher knight, latimes.com, "Marisa Merz retrospective at the Hammer gives an overlooked female artist her due," 15 July 2017
It was released with a retrospective video of career moments.

— judy cantor-navas, Billboard, "10 Eternal Celia Cruz Songs," 14 July 2017
This retrospective band consists of Ash, drummer Kevin Haskins—who was in all three aforementioned bands—and Haskins’s daughter Diva Dompe.

— monica kendrick, Chicago Reader, "Poptone revisit the work of Bauhaus, Tones on Tail, and Love and Rockets," 29 June 2017
The July 12 ceremony will take place at the Brandywine River Museum of Art, where a retrospective exhibition covering Andrew Wyeth’s entire career is now on view.

— stephan salisbury, Philly.com, "U.S. Postal Service honors Andrew Wyeth with commemorative stamps," 26 June 2017
There is a lot in the Post story about the retrospective remorse among Obama advisers concerning the administration’s failure to more aggressively describe and deal with what Russia was doing.

— ed kilgore, Daily Intelligencer, "Report: Obama Tried to Stop Russian Election Tampering, But Didn’t Really Think Putin Would Succeed," 23 June 2017
In order to reach that kind of real-time service, Huang and his team would first have to create a program capable of retrospective transcription.

— greg noone, The Atlantic, "When AI Can Transcribe Everything," 20 June 2017
The retrospective study involved 1,200 women in Massachusetts and across Europe who were followed for a decade.

— laurie mcginley, Washington Post, "Is pregnancy safe after breast cancer? Here’s what the latest data shows.," 3 June 2017
And in perhaps a sign of how important the festival itself is on the literary circuit, the top seller so far is a retrospective collection of 30 transcripts of memorable Hay Festival conversations.

— sara miller llana, The Christian Science Monitor, "The end of books? Tell that to 250,000 readers at the Hay Festival.," 2 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'retrospective.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

Look not mournfully into the past. It comes not back again, wrote Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in his 1839 novel Hyperion. But these days the past is trendy, old-fashioned is hip, and "flea-market vogue" is not an oxymoron. And of course, "retrospective" is as retro as it gets. A glance at the history of "retrospective" reveals that it traces back to the Latin retro- (meaning "back," "behind," or "backward") and "specere" (meaning "to look at"). Once you have "retrospective" behind you, you can also add its kin "retrospect" (which is used as a noun, an adjective, and a verb) and "retrospection" to your vocabulary, too. "Retrospective" can also be used as a noun, referring to an exhibition that "looks back" at artistic work created over a span of years.

First Known Use of retrospective

1664

retrospective

noun ret·ro·spec·tive

Definition of retrospective

: a generally comprehensive exhibition, compilation, or performance of the work of an artist over a span of years; broadly : review 7a a retrospective of 20th century haute couture

See retrospective defined for English-language learners

Examples of retrospective in a Sentence

The museum is featuring a retrospective of Picasso's early works.

Recent Examples of retrospective from the Web

The Frazier History Museum featured a 50-year retrospective of Friedman's work that ran for several months last year.

— sheldon s. shafer, The Courier-Journal, "Influential Louisville artist Julius Friedman dies at 74," 16 July 2017
The video is a retrospective of the rap-rocker's career, with scenes ranging from his breakout Woodstock '99 performance to his 40th birthday concert at Ford Field in 2011.

— brian mccollum, Detroit Free Press, "Kid Rock announces 2018 tour, releases 2 new songs," 14 July 2017
The exhibit, a retrospective featuring over 400 of Christian Dior's dresses, runs from July 5, 2017 to Jan. 7, 2018.

— maeve mcdermott, USA TODAY, "See Jennifer Lawrence, Bella Hadid's twinning naked dresses at Dior," 3 July 2017
In addition, a retrospective of 105 large-scale wall drawings by Sol LeWitt takes full advantage of the venue's massive space.

— susan dunne, courant.com, "Berkshires Art Road Trip: See Picasso, Warhol, Rockwell And More," 29 June 2017
With the finale set to air at 10 p.m., here's a retrospective on a few things that happened in the season, and a few of the unresolved plot points that will likely be left over next year.

— patrick cooley, cleveland.com, "'Better Call Saul' on AMC: What to expect from the season 3 finale," 19 June 2017
Exhibitions in galleries and museums followed, including a retrospective at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 2013.

— anna webb, idahostatesman, "Crews to break ground at the James Castle homesite next week," 9 June 2017
This year's fest will also show a retrospective of classic Disney animation, including Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Dumbo, Bambi and others.

— patrick brzeski, The Hollywood Reporter, "Shanghai Festival: Danish Auteur Bille August's 'The Chinese Widow' to Premiere in Competition," 9 June 2017
Additionally, as mentioned in the last piece, GOG has agreed to open up its vast vaults of retrogaming history to Ars to enable us to start putting together some deep-dive retrospectives into the birth, life, and death of famous classic titles.

— lee hutchinson, Ars Technica, "Here’s what you can expect next from our partnership with GOG," 8 June 2017

First Known Use of retrospective

1929

RETROSPECTIVE Defined for English Language Learners

retrospective

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adjective

Definition of retrospective for English Language Learners

: of or relating to the past or something that happened in the past
: effective from a particular date in the past

retrospective

noun

Definition of retrospective for English Language Learners

: an exhibition of work that an artist has done in the past

Medical Dictionary

retrospective

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adjective ret·ro·spec·tive \-ˈspek-tiv\

Medical Definition of retrospective

1a: of, relating to, or given to introspectionb: relating to or being a study (as of a disease) that starts with the present condition of a population of individuals and collects data about their past history to explain their present condition—compare prospective
2: based on memory

retrospectively

adverb

Law Dictionary

retrospective

play

adjective ret·ro·spec·tive \ˈre-trə-ˌspek-tiv\

Legal Definition of retrospective

: affecting things past : retroactive; specifically : of, relating to, or being a law that takes away or impairs vested rights, creates new duties or obligations, or attaches new disabilities with respect to acts and transactions completed before its enactment