in retrospect

Idioms  

1. Looking backward, reflecting on the past. For example, In retrospect, he regarded his move as the best thing he'd ever done. This idiom employs retrospect in the sense of “a view of the past.” [Second half of 1600s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

in retrospect

It’s easy, in retrospect, to reverse-engineer other people’s finances, and say, “This is where you went wrong. Why couldn’t you see that at the time?”

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 26, 2026

What’s funny, especially in retrospect, is how widely these men whiffed the point.

From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2026

I was excited to go, probably too excited in retrospect — like someone who had never been out before — but that’s OK.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026

Over the years, I have come to understand that we learn our parents’ histories slowly, often in fragments, and sometimes only in retrospect.

From Slate ● Sep. 11, 2026

What was in retrospect the most serious contemporary challenge to Lowell’s ideas came from an unlikely source.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

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