Word.ws English Dictionary

retroactive

UK/ˌɹɛt.ɹəʊˈæk.tɪv//ˌɹɛ.tɹoʊˈæk.tɪv/

retroactive adjective: extending in scope, effect, application or influence to a prior time or to prior conditions.

Adjective

retroactive (not comparable)

  1. Extending in scope, effect, application or influence to a prior time or to prior conditions
    • 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...
    • 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 214
    Synonyms:
    ex post facto

retroactive meaning in Bengali and Indonesian

retroactive in Bengali

পূর্ববর্তী সময় থেকে কার্যকর

retroactive in Indonesian

extending in scope, effect, application or influence to a prior time or to prior conditions
retroaktif

Synonyms of retroactive

Origin of retroactive

First attested in 1610. From French rétroactif, equivalent to retro- + active.

Words formed from retroactive

Phrases with retroactive

Questions about retroactive

What does retroactive mean?
Retroactive means extending in scope, effect, application or influence to a prior time or to prior conditions.
What is retroactive in Bengali?
Retroactive in Bengali is পূর্ববর্তী সময় থেকে কার্যকর. See Retroactive meaning in Bengali.
What part of speech is retroactive?
Retroactive is an adjective.
How do you pronounce retroactive?
Retroactive is pronounced /ˌɹɛt.ɹəʊˈæk.tɪv/ (UK).

Words near retroactive in the dictionary

  1. retroact
  2. retroacted
  3. retroacting
  4. retroaction
  5. retroactions
  6. retroactive
  7. retroactive rape
  8. retroactive rapes
  9. retroactively
  10. retroactiveness
  11. retroactivities

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: retroactive (page history and authors); retroactive (Bengali Wiktionary) (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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-retroactive.ogg, en-au-retroactive.ogg.

Cite this entry: “retroactive.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/retroactive. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.