retrospect
Americannoun
verb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
idioms
noun
verb
-
to contemplate (anything past); look back on (something)
-
to refer
Etymology
Origin of retrospect
1595–1605; probably retro- + (pro)spect
Explanation
In retrospect — that is, in looking back and contemplating the past — we sometimes find ourselves wishing that we had done some things differently. Though this word most commonly appears as a noun in the phrase "in retrospect," it can also be used as a verb. The prefix retro- means “back," and spect is a component of the words inspect, spectator, spectacles, and perspective, among others, which all have to do with looking or seeing. So it makes sense that retrospect means to look back in time, or to remember.
Vocabulary lists containing retrospect
Wonder
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Common Senses: Spec, Spect, Spic ("Look")
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To All the Boys I've Loved Before
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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.
It’s easy, in retrospect, to reverse-engineer other people’s finances, and say, “This is where you went wrong. Why couldn’t you see that at the time?”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 26, 2026
In retrospect, Robert Freeman’s autumnal, artfully distorted photograph was an entirely apt image for a worldlier, darker, more grown-up Beatles record.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
"On retrospect, we should have done what you're suggesting," Kwon said, in response to a question by the committee on why it had not dialled the mobile numbers of government ministers.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
In retrospect, Sakkijha said, “That was small potatoes.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026
It was, to her, funny only in retrospect.
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
