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

But we were in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, so, in retrospect, who cares?

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

Was it an insensitive thing to say, in retrospect?

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026

Overuse of today’s AI models isn’t going to lead to a massive plume of radioactive fallout, but it could have a number of far-reaching consequences that will seem obvious in retrospect.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 21, 2026

They called it the “Attitude Era,” and in retrospect it represented the absolute apotheosis of pre-millennium x-treme marketing.

From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026

Thus their first appearance in a discipline marks a crucial moment in the history of that discipline, the beginning of what, in retrospect, we may call ‘modernity’.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton