retrospective
Americanadjective
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directed to the past; contemplative of past situations, events, etc.
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looking or directed backward.
-
retroactive, as a statute.
noun
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an art exhibit showing an entire phase or representative examples of an artist's lifework.
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any exhibition or series of showings or performances, as of musical works or motion pictures, representing the work of an artist or performer over all or a major part of a career.
a retrospective of John Ford's movies.
adjective
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looking or directed backwards, esp in time; characterized by retrospection
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applying to the past; retroactive
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of retrospective
First recorded in 1655–65; retrospect + -ive
Explanation
Retrospective means looking back. An art exhibit that cover an artist's entire career is called a retrospective because it looks back at the work the artist has produced over many years. Retro- means back, -spect- means look (think: spectacles), so the word means literally 'a looking back.' Many people take a retrospective look at their lives on birthdays or on New Year's Eve to evaluate events and see how well they've met their goals. You could call the yearly evaluation you get from your boss a retrospective review of your work.
Vocabulary lists containing retrospective
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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.
But they could not reconstruct with retrospective precision who stood near a location hours earlier.
From Slate • May 20, 2026
The 99-year-old artist—long excluded from the mainstream, male-dominated art scene in Mexico, and who only had her first major retrospective last year—is a quiet yet forceful fount of tenderness.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 14, 2026
I’ve written about Wilson’s works for nearly half a century, but a visit to the Marcel Duchamp retrospective at MoMA in New York reminded me of the folly of trying to describe a Wilson experience.
From Los Angeles Times • May 11, 2026
Researchers conducted a retrospective analysis using electronic health records.
From Science Daily • Apr. 9, 2026
When he heard about the retrospective, he offered.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
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.
