Meanings
prepositional phrase
- When looked back upon as a past event; as can be seen now, but not at the time.
Near-synonym: retrospectively
1 more example
Trying to expand the business into the Middle East was doomed to failure. In retrospect, we shouldn't have bothered.
Synonyms: in hindsight, retrospectively
Synonyms & antonyms
prepositional phraseWhen looked back upon as a past event; as can be seen now, but not at the time.
Similar
Also see
Translations
Arabic فِي وَقْت لَاحِق
- فِي وَقْت لَاحِق (fī waqt lāḥiq)as can be seen now but was not seen at the outset
Czech zpětně viděno
- zpětně viděnoas can be seen now but was not seen at the outset
Danish set i bakspejlet, i retrospekt
- set i bakspejletas can be seen now but was not seen at the outset
- i retrospektas can be seen now but was not seen at the outset
Finnish jälkikäteen ajatellen, jälkikäteen ajateltuna
- jälkikäteen ajatellenas can be seen now but was not seen at the outset
- jälkikäteen ajateltunaas can be seen now but was not seen at the outset
- jälkikäteen tarkasteltunaas can be seen now but was not seen at the outset
French avec le recul
- avec le reculas can be seen now but was not seen at the outset
German rückblickend, zurückblickend
- rückblickendas can be seen now but was not seen at the outset
- zurückblickendas can be seen now but was not seen at the outset
Greek εκ των υστέρων
- εκ των υστέρων (ek ton ystéron)as can be seen now but was not seen at the outset
Hebrew בדיעבד
- בדיעבד (bedi'avád)as can be seen now but was not seen at the outset
Icelandic þegar litið er til baka, eftir á að hyggja
- þegar litið er til bakaas can be seen now but was not seen at the outset
- eftir á að hyggjaas can be seen now but was not seen at the outset
Italian col senno di poi, a posteriori
- col senno di poias can be seen now but was not seen at the outset
- a posteriorias can be seen now but was not seen at the outset
- ripensandocias can be seen now but was not seen at the outset
Norwegian Bokmål i ettertid
- i ettertidas can be seen now but was not seen at the outset
Polish z perspektywy czasu
- z perspektywy czasuas can be seen now but was not seen at the outset
Swedish i efterhand
- i efterhandas can be seen now but was not seen at the outset
Cite this entry
APA
in retrospect. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20retrospect
MLA
“in retrospect.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20retrospect. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “in retrospect,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20retrospect.
Source: in retrospect on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.