retrospective

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

|Updated on: 14 Aug 2018

Examples: retrospective in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of retrospective

1 a (1) : of, relating to, or given to retrospection

(2) : based on memory

a retrospective report

b : 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

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retrospectively

adverb

See retrospective defined for English-language learners

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retrospective was our Word of the Day on 03/28/2017. Hear the podcast!

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

On July 6, Kevin Macdonald’s Whitney, a retrospective homage to Whitney Houston, opened to a solid $1.2 million in limited release.

— david sims, The Atlantic, "What’s Driving Documentaries to Box-Office Success?," 11 July 2018
UC Davis oncologist David Gandara reported a retrospective analysis of seven different trials of the checkpoint inhibitor Tecentriq in lung and bladder cancer, melanoma, and other tumors.

— ken garber, Science | AAAS, "Mutation-counting blood test could predict if cutting-edge immunotherapies can beat a cancer," 27 June 2018
There have been several calls since for Noble to face retrospective punishment for his actions after both escaped with only a yellow card from referee Jon Moss.

— SI.com, "Mark Noble Responds to Paul Pogba Incident on Twitter After Pairing's Clash in Stalemate," 11 May 2018
Brown’s retrospective opinion based upon tests assessing [Sirhan’s] mental condition forty years after the fact are of negligible weight.

— tom jackman, Washington Post, "The assassination of Bobby Kennedy: Was Sirhan Sirhan hypnotized to be the fall guy?," 4 June 2018
The key date: Nov. 7, 2018, when the issue becomes a prospective choice, not a retrospective justification.

— chris cillizza, CNN, "Kellyanne Conway was dead wrong when she tried to play the gender card this weekend," 23 Apr. 2018
Rather, in the TSVF one can gain retrospective knowledge of what happened in a quantum system by selecting the outcome: Instead of simply measuring where a particle ends up, a researcher chooses a particular location in which to look for it.

— philip ball, Scientific American, "Quantum Physics May Be Even Spookier Than You Think," 21 May 2018
The retrospective address, vibrating with eccentric observations and quiet humor, centers on the memory of Bocanegra's grandparents' farm in La Grange, Texas.

— charles mcnulty, latimes.com, "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, the farmhouse next door, and unexpected connections in between," 16 Apr. 2018
Always overproductive, Picasso supercharged his career in 1932, the year his first retrospective exhibition took place and when the first volume of Christian Zervos’s mammoth catalogue raisonné was published.

— jason farago, New York Times, "Picasso in 1932: Ingenious, Exhausting, Relentless," 2 Apr. 2018

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

in the meaning defined at sense 1a(1)

See Words from the same year

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retrospective

noun

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

Two retrospectives are already planned, one for English comedy giant Peter Sellers, and one for French filmmaker Maurice Pialat.

— ariston anderson, The Hollywood Reporter, "Sigourney Weaver Joins Rome Film Fest Sessions Lineup," 26 June 2018
Basquiat’s works can also elicit the opposite response, very much in evidence in commentary on a recent retrospective mounted at the Barbican, in London, and then at the Schirn Kunsthalle, in Frankfurt.

— stephen metcalf, The Atlantic, "Jean-Michel Basquiat Is Still an Enigma," 24 June 2018
This enormous, welcome show is the first major New York Giacometti exhibition since the Museum of Modern Art’s 2001 retrospective.

— lance esplund, WSJ, "‘Giacometti’ Review: Beyond a Retrospective," 19 June 2018
This fascinating, thoughtfully displayed mini-retrospective would have been well served by a catalogue and more words from the artist.

— edith newhall, Philly.com, "Art to see now: Keith Smith at PMA and minimalists at Larry Becker," 13 June 2018
Following that diagnosis, both works became wide-sweeping retrospectives.

— steven zeitchik, The Seattle Times, "Book and documentary serve as ‘living eulogy’ to John McCain," 28 May 2018
Braestrup’s conclusion is embraced in many revisionist retrospectives.

— joel achenbach, Washington Post, "Did the news media, led by Walter Cronkite, lose the war in Vietnam?," 25 May 2018
Director Jon Turteltaub has shark thriller The Meg out in theaters later this summer, so think of National Treasure as a little career retrospective primer.

— richard lawson, HWD, "What’s New on Netflix in June," 24 May 2018
The premise is thought-provoking — not simply a retrospective of a beloved designer à la 2017’s look at Rei Kawakubo, Charles James in 2014 and Alexander McQueen in 2011.

— cara kelly, USA TODAY, "'Heavenly Bodies' is the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s largest, most ambitious exhibit to date," 9 May 2018

First Known Use of retrospective

1929

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

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RETROSPECTIVE Defined for English Language Learners

retrospective

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

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

medical Definition of retrospective

1 a : of, relating to, or given to introspection

b : 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

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

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