retrospect
1 of 3noun
ret·ro·spect ˈre-trə-ˌspekt 
1
: a review of or meditation on past events
2
archaic : reference to or regard of a precedent or authority
retrospect
2 of 3adjective
: retrospective
retrospect
3 of 3verb
retrospected; retrospecting; retrospects
intransitive verb
1
: to engage in retrospection
2
: to refer back : reflect
transitive verb
: to go back over in thought
Synonyms
Noun
- reappraisal
- reconsideration
- reexamination
- retrospection
- review
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
Noun in retrospect, we should have saved more money for college
Recent Examples on the Web
Andrew Beaton, WSJ, 16 Sep. 2022 In retrospect, maybe this youngish man was still figuring it out. Monica Hesse, Washington Post, 15 Sep. 2022 The long-lasting consequences of these later decades’ cold spells are one reason White believes the 1540 drought isn’t viewed as so severe in retrospect, despite the remarkable suffering that accompanied it. John Last, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Sep. 2022 In retrospect, the game marked the beginning of divergent paths between Alabama and Texas. Creg Stephenson | Cstephenson@al.com, al, 7 Sep. 2022 Edgerton said that Schrader was behind a few of the films that shaped his decision to becoming an actor, and was quietly thanking the filmmaker in retrospect for them. Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 3 Sep. 2022 Awarding $20,000 in forgiveness for any Pell Grant recipient who started and maintained a business in a disadvantaged community for three years seems even more absurd in retrospect. Julian Epp, The New Republic, 30 Aug. 2022 Another camp warns that the Fed, embarrassed in retrospect at waiting too long to pull back its support of an economy that didn’t need it in 2021, will compound that error by tightening too much. Nick Timiraos, WSJ, 25 Aug. 2022 In fact, their being baby-talking monsters might seem like your dream problem in retrospect when a puppy upends your lives. Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 25 Aug. 2022 Washington Post, 17 Sep. 2019 In retrospect people hate Darvish, but at the time of the trade most Dodger fans were ecstatic. Los Angeles Times, 1 Aug. 2019 Her political commentaries, though no doubt engrossing at their time of publication, seem in retrospect rather ragged and dog-eared, like the moldering magazines one finds in the waiting room at the doctor’s office. Danny Heitman, The Christian Science Monitor, 2 Apr. 2018 In retrospect people hate Darvish, but at the time of the trade most Dodger fans were ecstatic. Los Angeles Times, 1 Aug. 2019 Her political commentaries, though no doubt engrossing at their time of publication, seem in retrospect rather ragged and dog-eared, like the moldering magazines one finds in the waiting room at the doctor’s office. Danny Heitman, The Christian Science Monitor, 2 Apr. 2018 Mark Danner, The New York Review of Books, 1 July 2021 See More
Noun
Facing fourth-and-5, Hackett faced a decision that doesn’t seem so hard for him in retrospect. Andrew Beaton, WSJ, 16 Sep. 2022 In retrospect, maybe this youngish man was still figuring it out. Monica Hesse, Washington Post, 15 Sep. 2022 The long-lasting consequences of these later decades’ cold spells are one reason White believes the 1540 drought isn’t viewed as so severe in retrospect, despite the remarkable suffering that accompanied it. John Last, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Sep. 2022 In retrospect, the game marked the beginning of divergent paths between Alabama and Texas. Creg Stephenson | Cstephenson@al.com, al, 7 Sep. 2022 Edgerton said that Schrader was behind a few of the films that shaped his decision to becoming an actor, and was quietly thanking the filmmaker in retrospect for them. Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 3 Sep. 2022 Awarding $20,000 in forgiveness for any Pell Grant recipient who started and maintained a business in a disadvantaged community for three years seems even more absurd in retrospect. Julian Epp, The New Republic, 30 Aug. 2022 Another camp warns that the Fed, embarrassed in retrospect at waiting too long to pull back its support of an economy that didn’t need it in 2021, will compound that error by tightening too much. Nick Timiraos, WSJ, 25 Aug. 2022 In fact, their being baby-talking monsters might seem like your dream problem in retrospect when a puppy upends your lives. Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 25 Aug. 2022 Adjective
Pressure to raise money for research, the allure of unrestricted donations for novel ideas and the aura of star scholars may have contributed to decisions that in retrospect look tawdry. Washington Post, 17 Sep. 2019 In retrospect people hate Darvish, but at the time of the trade most Dodger fans were ecstatic. Los Angeles Times, 1 Aug. 2019 Her political commentaries, though no doubt engrossing at their time of publication, seem in retrospect rather ragged and dog-eared, like the moldering magazines one finds in the waiting room at the doctor’s office. Danny Heitman, The Christian Science Monitor, 2 Apr. 2018 In retrospect people hate Darvish, but at the time of the trade most Dodger fans were ecstatic. Los Angeles Times, 1 Aug. 2019 Her political commentaries, though no doubt engrossing at their time of publication, seem in retrospect rather ragged and dog-eared, like the moldering magazines one finds in the waiting room at the doctor’s office. Danny Heitman, The Christian Science Monitor, 2 Apr. 2018 Verb
In retrospect the unfolding of Watergate in the press and the courts and Congress is our American Oresteia. Mark Danner, The New York Review of Books, 1 July 2021 See More Word History
Etymology
Noun
probably from retro- + prospect
First Known Use
Noun
1601, in the meaning defined at sense 2
Adjective
1701, in the meaning defined above
Verb
1659, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1
Phrases Containing retrospect
Kids Definition
retrospect
noun
ret·ro·spect ˈre-trə-ˌspekt
: a looking back on things past
In retrospect, I made the right decision.
retrospect
noun
as in retrospection
a usually critical look at a past event in retrospect, we should have saved more money for college Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- retrospection
- review
- reappraisal
- reconsideration
- reexamination
- recapitulation
- recap
- rehash
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- preview