retrofit
Americanverb (used with object)
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to modify equipment (in airplanes, automobiles, a factory, etc.) that is already in service using parts developed or made available after the time of original manufacture.
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to install, fit, or adapt (a device or system) for use with something older.
to retrofit solar heating to a poorly insulated house.
verb (used without object)
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(of new or modified parts, equipment, etc.) to fit into or onto existing equipment.
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to replace existing parts, equipment, etc., with updated parts or systems.
noun
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something that has been retrofitted.
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an instance of updating, enlarging, etc., with new or modified equipment.
A retrofit could save thousands of dollars.
adjective
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
retrofitsimple
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retrofitssimple
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have retrofitperfect
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have retrofittedperfect
-
has retrofitperfect
-
has retrofittedperfect
-
am retrofittingprogressive
-
are retrofittingprogressive
-
is retrofittingprogressive
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have been retrofittingperfect progressive
-
has been retrofittingperfect progressive
Past
-
retrofitsimple
-
retrofittedsimple
-
had retrofitperfect
-
had retrofittedperfect
-
was retrofittingprogressive
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were retrofittingprogressive
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had been retrofittingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of retrofit
Explanation
When you retrofit something, you replace old parts with new ones. You might retrofit an antique car with updated brakes and seat belts, for example. You can use retrofit as a verb, or it can be a noun meaning the new part itself, or something that's added on later. The solar panels on your two hundred year old house are a retrofit, and so is the fancy new stereo in your beat up old car. Retrofit has been around since the mid-1950s, when retroactive and refit were combined into a new word.
Vocabulary lists containing retrofit
This Week In Culture: August 30–September 4, 2020
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Vocabulary From the Ninth Democratic Debate, April 14, 2016
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Internment
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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.
See Examples For:
“We build new projectors every day, but film projectors, using this film, it’s not practical. So we’ve got to find them and retrofit them and rebuild them, which is what we did for ‘Odyssey.’
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
The switch raised questions about the gifted jet that the U.S. spent $400 million to retrofit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2026
Kids won’t have the same challenges we have of trying to retrofit old assumptions and will start with a clean slate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 26, 2026
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has said it has stepped up a crackdown on retrofit bulbs, with sellers facing potential fines of up to £1,000.
From BBC ● Feb. 18, 2026
The Center has since benefitted by a forty-million-dollar retrofit, but there's still enough forest and swamp on the facility for the Border Patrol to put in tracking practice.
From The Hacker Crackdown, law and disorder on the electronic frontier by Sterling, Bruce
On Net Zero he proposes a "Northern Way", which subsidises the transition, retrofits, cutting bills, and building exportable locally owned industry.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
There are industry divides over which bill allows more flexibility to comply with new mandates and whether airlines should be required to make potentially costly retrofits of cockpit systems.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
The ADS-B In retrofits might not be compatible with hundreds of planes in the U.S. commercial fleet, according to Bedford, the FAA administrator.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 31, 2026
The county set a deadline for retrofits to be done within 20 years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2025
The law requires that retrofits be done within seven years after an owner receives an order to comply.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 23, 2024
A vehicle was retrofitted so that Lillard could drive.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
The new plane was rapidly retrofitted and equipped with security features before making its first flight with Trump on July 1.
From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026
Torrance, Santa Monica and West Hollywood all require steel-moment-frame buildings to be evaluated and, if necessary, retrofitted, but the city of Los Angeles does not.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026
They took an old double-decker bus, removed the roof, and retrofitted the rest, instead of just renting a tour bus.
From Salon ● Jun. 23, 2026
Strong men lifted Garfield and the mattress from the wagon onto the rail car, which had been retrofitted to accommodate him.
From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow
Longer term, he said the UK needed a more strategic approach, including collecting better data, targeted retrofitting of existing homes and learning from hotter countries through measures such as external shutters and reflective exterior paint.
From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026
Jones noted that the state offers grants through the Earthquake Brace+Bolt program to partially cover the cost of retrofitting older single-family homes that can slide off their foundation in an earthquake.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026
At those levels, buyers can commission their own dream homes instead of retrofitting someone else’s fantasy.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 3, 2026
In April the government approved a legal framework to allow people to convert their petrol and diesel vehicles into electric ones, known as "retrofitting".
From Barron's ● May 3, 2026
It could spend a bundle retrofitting to comply, or lose a bundle in sales.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026
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.
