Meanings
- not comparableExtending in scope, effect, application or influence to a prior time or to prior conditions.
Rather, he hoped there was some legal trickeration he could deploy to get a retroactive water right filed and end-run the opposition.
2005, Jeff Hull, Pale Morning Done: A Novel, page 2143 more examples
Lenin's retroactive view of history was of course nothing in comparison to the systematic falsification of Stalin's day, when it had to be shown at all costs that the current assessment of individuals and political movements was equally valid for all past years.
1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume II: The Golden Age, Oxford: Clarendon Press, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: rozwój (in Polish), →ISBN, →OCLC, page 523Can such a child be ennobled by the passage of time, his struggles granted retroactive gravitas and his childish confusions rearticulated with adult clarity?
2007 April 15, Liesl Schillinger, “The Night Train to Bucharest”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 16 Jun 2022Such assumptions can motivate expressions of cisgenderism such as retroactive misgendering (in which a person's past is described using language that disregards or contrasts with their current designation of their gender) […]
2016, Abbie E. Goldberg, The SAGE Encyclopedia of LGBTQ Studies, page 232Synonyms: ex post facto
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveExtending in scope, effect, application or influence to a prior time or to prior conditions.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivedescriptive of any event or stimulus or process that has an effect on the effects of events or stimuli or process that occurred previously
adjectiveaffecting things past
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Frenchrétroactif
- Englishretroactive
First attested in 1610. From French rétroactif, equivalent to retro- + active.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan retroactiu
- retroactiuextending in scope, effect, application or influence to a prior time or to prior conditions
Czech retroaktivní, zpětný
- retroaktivníextending in scope, effect, application or influence to a prior time or to prior conditions
- zpětnýextending in scope, effect, application or influence to a prior time or to prior conditions
Danish tilbagevirkende, retroaktiv
- tilbagevirkendeextending in scope, effect, application or influence to a prior time or to prior conditions
- retroaktivextending in scope, effect, application or influence to a prior time or to prior conditions
Dutch terugwerkend
- terugwerkendextending in scope, effect, application or influence to a prior time or to prior conditions
Finnish takautuva, taannehtiva
- takautuvaextending in scope, effect, application or influence to a prior time or to prior conditions
- taannehtivaextending in scope, effect, application or influence to a prior time or to prior conditions
- retroaktiivinenextending in scope, effect, application or influence to a prior time or to prior conditions
French rétroactif
- rétroactifextending in scope, effect, application or influence to a prior time or to prior conditions
German rückwirkend
- rückwirkendextending in scope, effect, application or influence to a prior time or to prior conditions
Greek αναδρομικός
- αναδρομικός (anadromikós)extending in scope, effect, application or influence to a prior time or to prior conditions
Indonesian retroaktif
- retroaktifextending in scope, effect, application or influence to a prior time or to prior conditions
Irish aisghníomhach
- aisghníomhachextending in scope, effect, application or influence to a prior time or to prior conditions
Italian retroattivo
- retroattivoextending in scope, effect, application or influence to a prior time or to prior conditions
Polish retroaktywny
- retroaktywnyextending in scope, effect, application or influence to a prior time or to prior conditions
Portuguese retroativo
- retroativoextending in scope, effect, application or influence to a prior time or to prior conditions
Russian ретроакти́вный
- ретроакти́вный (retroaktívnyj)extending in scope, effect, application or influence to a prior time or to prior conditions
Spanish retroactivo
- retroactivoextending in scope, effect, application or influence to a prior time or to prior conditions
Swedish retroaktiv
- retroaktivextending in scope, effect, application or influence to a prior time or to prior conditions
Cite this entry
retroactive. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/retroactive
“retroactive.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/retroactive. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “retroactive,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/retroactive.
Source: retroactive on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.