retrofit
Americanverb (used with object)
-
retrofits,
present (3rd person singular)
-
retrofitted,
past participle, past
-
retrofit,
past participle, past
-
retrofitting
present participle
-
to modify equipment (in airplanes, automobiles, a factory, etc.) that is already in service using parts developed or made available after the time of original manufacture.
-
to install, fit, or adapt (a device or system) for use with something older.
to retrofit solar heating to a poorly insulated house.
verb (used without object)
-
retrofits,
present (3rd person singular)
-
retrofitted,
past participle, past
-
retrofit,
past participle, past
-
retrofitting
present participle
-
(of new or modified parts, equipment, etc.) to fit into or onto existing equipment.
-
to replace existing parts, equipment, etc., with updated parts or systems.
noun
-
retrofits
plural
-
something that has been retrofitted.
-
an instance of updating, enlarging, etc., with new or modified equipment.
A retrofit could save thousands of dollars.
adjective
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
retrofitsimple
-
retrofitssimple
-
have retrofitperfect
-
have retrofittedperfect
-
has retrofitperfect
-
has retrofittedperfect
-
am retrofittingprogressive
-
are retrofittingprogressive
-
is retrofittingprogressive
-
have been retrofittingperfect progressive
-
has been retrofittingperfect progressive
Past
-
retrofitsimple
-
retrofittedsimple
-
had retrofitperfect
-
had retrofittedperfect
-
was retrofittingprogressive
-
were retrofittingprogressive
-
had been retrofittingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of retrofit
Explanation
When you retrofit something, you replace old parts with new ones. You might retrofit an antique car with updated brakes and seat belts, for example. You can use retrofit as a verb, or it can be a noun meaning the new part itself, or something that's added on later. The solar panels on your two hundred year old house are a retrofit, and so is the fancy new stereo in your beat up old car. Retrofit has been around since the mid-1950s, when retroactive and refit were combined into a new word.
Vocabulary lists containing retrofit
This Week In Culture: August 30–September 4, 2020
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Vocabulary From the Ninth Democratic Debate, April 14, 2016
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Internment
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Leaders must scramble to retrofit workplaces like hospitals and schools with air conditioning, support farmers switching crops, and build out irrigation systems and water reservoirs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026
The newest jet—one donated by the Qatari government—went through a rapid retrofit to meet Trump’s request for it to fly by July 4, America’s 250th birthday.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
The switch raised questions about the gifted jet that the U.S. spent $400 million to retrofit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2026
The alternative to this is to build new bespoke plants or retrofit existing facilities with new kit, from companies like Colorado-based AMP.
From BBC ● May 4, 2026
The Center has since benefitted by a forty-million-dollar retrofit, but there's still enough forest and swamp on the facility for the Border Patrol to put in tracking practice.
From The Hacker Crackdown, law and disorder on the electronic frontier by Bruce Sterling
American Airlines expects screens to be installed across its full fleet by early in the next decade, with retrofits starting in 2028.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
On Net Zero he proposes a "Northern Way", which subsidises the transition, retrofits, cutting bills, and building exportable locally owned industry.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
The ADS-B In retrofits might not be compatible with hundreds of planes in the U.S. commercial fleet, according to Bedford, the FAA administrator.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 31, 2026
In South Pasadena, with a population of 26,000, building officials said earlier this year the city has no plans to create an inventory of soft-story apartment buildings or consider mandatory retrofits.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 16, 2024
Amid Southern California’s most seismically active year in decades, some cities have yet to require retrofits of many apartment buildings deemed most at risk of collapse.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 9, 2024
They lived in makeshift apartments and partied in retrofitted warehouses.
From Salon ● Aug. 30, 2026
One of Parton’s first forays into purer pop, this single has the stomp and shuffle of funk and could easily be retrofitted into disco DJ sets.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
On a recent summer day, Leong stepped into a Volkswagen microbus that he had retrofitted with Tesla batteries, a side project that expanded his interests from software to hardware engineering.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
A vehicle was retrofitted so that Lillard could drive.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
His first floor was now being retrofitted to accommodate his wheelchair—its doorways widened, its kitchen sink lowered—part of a joint effort between a nonprofit called Rebuilding Together and the company that owned Sears and Kmart.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
The US has spent months retrofitting the $400m Boeing 747-8 to prepare it for the president.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
Across the country, entrepreneurs like Gutstadt are capitalizing on the interest by retrofitting unconventional spaces, from parking lots to distribution warehouses, with padel courts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
One study, published in 2020, discussed how experts might recommend retrofitting riskier buildings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026
At those levels, buyers can commission their own dream homes instead of retrofitting someone else’s fantasy.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 3, 2026
In April the government approved a legal framework to allow people to convert their petrol and diesel vehicles into electric ones, known as "retrofitting".
From Barron's ● May 3, 2026
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
