retrospective

American  

[re-truh-spek-tiv] / ˌrɛ trəˈspɛk tɪv /

adjective

1. directed to the past; contemplative of past situations, events, etc.

2. looking or directed backward.

3. retroactive, as a statute.

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noun

• retrospectives
  plural

1. an art exhibit showing an entire phase or representative examples of an artist's lifework.

2. any exhibition or series of showings or performances, as of musical works or motion pictures, representing the work of an artist or performer over all or a major part of a career.

   a retrospective of John Ford's movies.

retrospective British  

/ ˌrɛtrəʊˈspɛktɪv /

adjective

1. looking or directed backwards, esp in time; characterized by retrospection

2. applying to the past; retroactive

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noun

1. an exhibition of an artist's life's work or a representative selection of it

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• retrospectiveness
  noun
• retrospectively
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• retrospectives
  plural

Etymology

Origin of retrospective

First recorded in 1655–65; retrospect + -ive

Explanation

Retrospective means looking back. An art exhibit that cover an artist's entire career is called a retrospective because it looks back at the work the artist has produced over many years. Retro- means back, -spect- means look (think: spectacles), so the word means literally 'a looking back.' Many people take a retrospective look at their lives on birthdays or on New Year's Eve to evaluate events and see how well they've met their goals. You could call the yearly evaluation you get from your boss a retrospective review of your work.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

retrospective retrospectives

This retrospective tracks the early years of the highly scrutinized pair’s relationship, the fallout from their royal exit, their media ventures and more.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026

Method Man narrates a retrospective of sneaker culture in a new campaign for Foot Locker.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026

Writing to a friend about this bold retrospective, Sand asserts that “the public is too ignoble for me . . . either to accuse myself or to justify myself about anything before it.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

Hogg said: "The law isn't retrospective and we all understand that, but the fact that they are released early simply seems perverse."

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

President Truman, who felt he had shown a valorous decisiveness in ordering the bombs to be dropped, had no tolerance for retrospective moralizing.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

“Confessions II” features intimate retrospectives of Madonna’s career and personal life — rare, clear-eyed visits to the past from an artist who has always preferred to keep her eyes on the future.

From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026

As exhibitions, books and retrospectives built his renown, Hockney increasingly relied on travel—to Paris and elsewhere—so he could work undisturbed before friends and others crowded his schedule.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026

Regardless of the inspiration these repertory theaters provide with, say, retrospectives of Akira Kurosawa, the model is not bulletproof to the punches theaters have taken.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2025

Their December lineup includes a spotlight on Parker Posey; retrospectives dedicated to Yasujiro Ozu and Ousmane Sembène; and some holiday noir, MGM musicals and “Hitchcock for the Holidays.”

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 20, 2023

Another job, with the film collector Raymond Rohauer, led him to work on retrospectives of the Marx Brothers and Laurel and Hardy at the supermarket heir Huntington Hartford’s Gallery of Modern Art in Manhattan.

From New York Times ● Mar. 1, 2023

Related Words

• reflective