retrospective
Americanadjective
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directed to the past; contemplative of past situations, events, etc.
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looking or directed backward.
-
retroactive, as a statute.
noun
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an art exhibit showing an entire phase or representative examples of an artist's lifework.
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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.
adjective
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looking or directed backwards, esp in time; characterized by retrospection
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applying to the past; retroactive
noun
Other Word Forms
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.
Vocabulary lists containing retrospective
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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.
Retrospective analysis of seismic station data at Barry Arm revealed three landslides that occurred in 2020 and 2021.
From Science Daily • Feb. 21, 2024
The building was formerly home to a newspaper printing factory and inside the long hall was the exhibition “A Retrospective: Northern Ghana Life.”
From New York Times • Feb. 5, 2024
The Retrospective provides an opportunity not only to celebrate his work, but to learn from past progress to inform how we look forward – something Foster's life has been dedicated to doing.
From Salon • Jul. 16, 2023
"Retrospective bans, a lack of transparency of the process enhances these kind of factional suspicions. The party won't progress unless the factionalism is dealt with properly," he said.
From BBC • Mar. 21, 2023
A Retrospective exhibition of Fine Arts and of Arts applied to the Industries.
From Scientific American Supplement, No. 363, December 16, 1882 by Various
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.
