Word.ws English Dictionary

retroacting

retroacting is the present participle and gerund of retroact.

Meaning of retroact

Verb

retroact (third-person singular simple present retroacts, present participle retroacting, simple past and past participle retroacted)

  1. To act retrospectively or in opposition
    • In their eyes the past was good or bad for itself, and the present good or bad for itself, and an evil past could no more shadow a virtuous present than a virtuous present could retroact to brighten or redeem an ugly past.1884, Edward Bellamy, “Chapter 15”, in Miss Ludington's Sister
  2. to be retrospective.
  3. To apply (a law) retroactively to situations that predate the enactment of the law.
    • Sec. 4. The effectivity of this Act shall retroact to January 1, 2001.2001, Republic of the Philippines, Republic Act No. 9010

Questions about retroacting

What is retroacting the present participle and gerund of?
Retroacting is the present participle and gerund of retroact.

Words near retroacting in the dictionary

  1. retro-rockets
  2. retro-Victorian
  3. retroabdominal
  4. retroact
  5. retroacted
  6. retroacting
  7. retroaction
  8. retroactions
  9. retroactive
  10. retroactive rape
  11. retroactive rapes

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: retroacting (page history and authors); retroact (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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