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retroactive. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
retroactive, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
retroactive in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
retroactive you have here. The definition of the word
retroactive will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
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English
Etymology
First attested in 1610. From French rétroactif, equivalent to retro- + active.
Pronunciation
Adjective
retroactive (not comparable)
- Extending in scope, effect, application or influence to a prior time or to prior conditions
2005, Jeff Hull, Pale Morning Done: A Novel, page 214:Rather, he hoped there was some legal trickeration he could deploy to get a retroactive water right filed and end-run the opposition.
2007 April 15, Liesl Schillinger, “The Night Train to Bucharest”, in The New York Times:Can such a child be ennobled by the passage of time, his struggles granted retroactive gravitas and his childish confusions rearticulated with adult clarity?
2016, Abbie E. Goldberg, The SAGE Encyclopedia of LGBTQ Studies, page 232:Such 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) […]
Derived terms
Translations
extending in scope, effect, application or influence to a prior time or to prior conditions
See also