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retro

[ re-troh ]

/ ˈrɛ troʊ /

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See synonyms for retro on Thesaurus.com

adjective Informal.

retroactive: retro pay.

of or designating the style of an earlier time: retro clothes.

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Origin of retro

By shortening

Words nearby retro

retributive, retributivism, retrieval, retrieve, retriever, retro, retroact, retroaction, retroactive, retroactive inhibition, retroactively

Other definitions for retro (2 of 2)

retro-

a prefix occurring in loanwords from Latin meaning “backward” (retrogress); on this model, used in the formation of compound words (retrorocket).

Origin of retro-

<Latin, representing retrō (adv.), backward, back, behind

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

How to use retro in a sentence

In other words, the computing hardware reads retro game-cartridge instructions.
A Game Boy look-alike runs on solar panels and button smashes|Maria Temming|September 15, 2020|Science News
As calls for climate action get louder and the costs associated with airships drop—as the cost of any new technology tends to do with time—we may find ourselves going retro and being ferried across the globe by giant helium-filled balloons.
Airships Are No Longer a Relic of the Past; You Could Ride in One by 2023|Vanessa Bates Ramirez|August 4, 2020|Singularity Hub
In addition to bucking a trend of how they built their current park, the Rangers had already bucked a trend of the retro-era stadiums with where they built their previous park.
MLB’s Newest Ballpark Is A Shift Away From Retro-Era Stadiums|Travis Sawchik|July 16, 2020|FiveThirtyEight
The first row of the upper deck at Globe Life Field is nearly 30 feet closer to the playing surface than the Rangers’ previous, retro-era home, according to an overlay of their profiles.
MLB’s Newest Ballpark Is A Shift Away From Retro-Era Stadiums|Travis Sawchik|July 16, 2020|FiveThirtyEight

When fans are permitted to enter, they will find many seats closer to the field than they are in retro parks — and certainly closer than they were in the Rangers’ previous home.
MLB’s Newest Ballpark Is A Shift Away From Retro-Era Stadiums|Travis Sawchik|July 16, 2020|FiveThirtyEight
“I was delighted to collaborate,” he said in the interview with Retro Report.
Bringing El Salvador Nun Killers to Justice|Raymond Bonner|November 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Familiarity with search-engines helps, a strange quirk of working in this retro medium.
Blurred Lines at NY Sketchbook Museum|Daniel Genis|November 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It’s arguably the best film of the ‘90s—a postmodern pop culture smorgasbord awash in nihilism and dripping with retro cool.
The Secrets of ‘Pulp Fiction’: 20 Things You Didn’t Know About the Movie on Its 20th Anniversary|Marlow Stern|October 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
[Laughs] He thought it was some retro-recreation or something.
David Cronenberg: Why Frustrated Novelists Hate the Screenplay|Craig Hubert|October 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Why did you feel the need to spice it up with retro tuneage?
‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Filmmaker James Gunn on His Glorious Space Opera and Rise to the A-List|Marlow Stern|August 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Further to the east, as we shall find in due course, may be seen the low vaulted retro-choir or ambulatory of one bay.
Bell's Cathedrals: A Short Account of Romsey Abbey|Thomas Perkins
East of the retro-choir is the exterior of a staircase leading from the north choir aisle to the clerestory parapet.
Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Carlisle|C. King Eley
A stone on the floor of the retro-choir to John Johnson, master and mariner, dated 1737, is crowded with nautical metaphor.
Yorkshire Painted And Described|Gordon Home
Sicque duorum solus uictor existens, Danis irrogatam multis retro temporibus infamiam gloriosa uirtute magnifice satis aboleuit.
Beowulf|R. W. Chambers
Of course, ground control was to be used only if the astronaut failed to ignite the retro-rockets himself.
Egocentric Orbit|John Cory

British Dictionary definitions for retro (1 of 2)

retro

/ (ˈrɛtrəʊ) /

noun plural -ros

short for retrorocket

adjective

denoting something associated with or revived from the pastretro dressing; retro fashion

British Dictionary definitions for retro (2 of 2)

retro-

prefix

back or backwardsretroactive

located behindretrolental

Word Origin for retro-

from Latin retrō behind, backwards

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Medical definitions for retro

retro-

pref.

Backward; back:retroposition.

Situated behind:retroperitoneum.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.