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View synonyms for retrospect

retrospect

[ re-truh-spekt ]

noun

  1. contemplation of the past; a survey of past time, events, etc.


verb (used without object)

  1. to look back in thought; refer back (often followed by to ):

    to retrospect to a period in one's youth.

verb (used with object)

  1. to look back upon; contemplate retrospectively.

retrospect

/ ˈrɛtrəʊˌspɛkt /

noun

  1. the act of surveying things past (often in the phrase in retrospect )
“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


verb

  1. to contemplate (anything past); look back on (something)
  2. introften foll byto to refer
“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
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Word History and Origins

Origin of retrospect1

1595–1605; probably retro- + (pro)spect
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Word History and Origins

Origin of retrospect1

C17: from Latin retrōspicere to look back, from retro- + specere to look
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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. in retrospect, in looking back on past events; upon reflection:

    It was, in retrospect, the happiest day of her life.

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Example Sentences

I think that in retrospect I should have asked that the piece be held.

Where there really is … The vertical nature of a lot of places, including the shop that I ran, I find to be, in retrospect, a big mistake, because it makes people feel like that they either have to rise up or leave.

From Ozy

He also said that “in retrospect” it was a mistake to partner with the group.

In retrospect, the pandemic not only fueled PC market demand but also created opportunities that resulted in a market expansion.

From Fortune

It seems, in retrospect, almost inevitable that I would think of Oscar Wilde’s fairy tales.

To say this is not to ignore its radical character, especially in retrospect.

“In retrospect, I think we were both surprised,” recalled Singh.

In retrospect, 2009 and 2010 were halcyon days in the Middle East, now that we seem just one horseman short of an apocalypse.

“Only in retrospect did we appreciate our good fortune in being part of a utopian experiment in American journalism,” she writes.

He struck many people there, at the time, not in retrospect, as arrogant and cold.

The retrospect will reveal to them a busy, thronging life underlying the serenity of history.

It is only in the retrospect that we have been able to grasp something of the effectual case against us.

He actually enjoyed in retrospect the humiliation of the man, and his heart beat with the excitement of hearing more.

An impartial retrospect will not permit a commendation of the plan.

It was seen plainly in retrospect; he had not noticed it much at the time.

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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.

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