retrospective means of, relating to, or contemplating the past. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 73 out of 100.
retrospective is pronounced /ˌɹɛt.ɹə(ʊ)ˈspɛk.tɪv/.
Why “retrospective” is a great word
RETROSPECTIVE — [Adjective] Looking back on or dealing with past events or situations. From Latin retrōspectus, the perfect passive participle of retrōspiciō ("to look back at"), from retrō- ("backwards") + specere ("to look at"), combined with the English suffix -ive. Unlike "prospective," which strains toward an unformed horizon, or "introspective," which plumbs the psyche's interior weather, retrospective fixes its gaze on the settled landscape of what has already occurred. It is the curator assembling an artist's life's work into a gallery, the scent of old paper rising from a box of unsent letters, and the particular, golden-hour light that makes an ordinary path seem arranged and significant—the quiet recognition that all understanding is written in the past tense.
adj
- Of, relating to, or contemplating the past.“While the pictures of what precisely unfolded after Cissé looked to tread on Evans are not entirely conclusive, the Football Association will surely pore over them on Thursday before quite possibly using video evidence to impose lengthy retrospective bans stemming from an incident unseen by Anthony Taylor, the referee.”
- Looking backwards.
- Affecting or influencing past things; retroactive.
noun
- An exhibition of works from an extended period of an artist's activity.