Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Looking back on, contemplating, or directed to the past.
  • adjective Looking or directed backward.
  • adjective Applying to or influencing the past; retroactive.
  • adjective Of, relating to, or being a retrospective.
  • noun An exhibition or performance of works produced by an artist over a considerable period.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Looking backward; considering the past.
  • In law, retroactive; affecting matters which occurred before it was adopted: as, a retrospective act, law, or statute.
  • Capable of being looked back to; occurring in the past; bygone.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Looking backward; contemplating things past; -- opposed to prospective.
  • adjective Having reference to what is past; affecting things past; retroactive.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective of, relating to, or contemplating the past
  • adjective looking backwards
  • adjective affecting or influencing past things; retroactive
  • noun an exhibition of works from an extended period of an artist's activity

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective concerned with or related to the past
  • noun an exhibition of a representative selection of an artist's life work

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

retrospect+-ive. from Latin retrospectare

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Examples

  • My twentieth, and last in this series, book-review retrospective is The Shadow in the River, by Frode Grytten, from May.

    Book review Maxine 2009

  • My eighth book-review retrospective is The Scent of the Night, the sixth of a wonderful series of books by Andrea Camilleri.

    Book review Maxine 2009

  • I risked driving through the dangerous weather to get here, and in retrospective I probably shouldn't have.

    Back Pain Makes It Hard To Be Alive pabba 2009

  • My fifth book-review retrospective is from February, and my choice is Sun Storm by Asa Larsson.

    Book review Maxine 2009

  • The Best of Lucius Shepard, a career retrospective, is now available from Subterranean Press, and next year will see the publication of a new as yet untitled novel.

    MIND MELD: What You Should Know About Speculative Fiction and Mainstream Acceptance (Part 2) 2009

  • So, as a retrospective is it causing the mayhem that you predicted?

    Study Shows Stone Way “Road Diet” Improved Traffic, Safety « PubliCola 2010

  • Between 60 and 41 yesterday we included a four-sided memoir of a one-of-a-kind childhood, a big retrospective from a master of the short-short-short story, a delirious trilogy-ender from the Demon Dog himself, a tiny and spellbindingly lovely novel of memory, and a travel tale far smarter than its sexpot cover would lead you to think.

    October 2009 2009

  • The Best of Lucius Shepard, a career retrospective, is now available from Subterranean Press, and next year will see the publication of a new as yet untitled novel.

    MIND MELD: The Best Genre-Related Books/Films/Shows Consumed in 2009 (Part 2) 2009

  • A highlight of the retrospective is "Eldorado/Creation" (2008), in which he captures a new dance piece choreographed by Angelin Preljocaj, featuring a score by Karlheinz Stockhausen.

    Surveyor of Our Landscape Kristin M. Jones 2010

  • The Best of Lucius Shepard, a career retrospective, is now available from Subterranean Press, and next year will see the publication of a new as yet untitled novel.

    October 2009 2009

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