Word.ws English Dictionary

retroactively

/ˌɹɛtɹoʊˈæktɪvli/

retroactively adverb: done after the fact; applying to events that have previously transpired.

Adverb

retroactively (not comparable)

  1. Done after the fact; applying to events that have previously transpired.
    • The new legislature passed a resolution retroactively legalizing the actions of the revolutionaries that brought them to power.
    • Although it has been already hinted at the link between the human ability to exchange roles and the citizens' right to retroactively adjust unfitting remarks or gestures to the situation, the same connection could perhaps be better[…]2014 March 31, Kirill Postoutenko, Totalitarian Communication: Hierarchies, Codes and Messages, transcript Verlag, →ISBN, page 30

Origin of retroactively

From retroactive + -ly.

Questions about retroactively

What does retroactively mean?
Retroactively means done after the fact; applying to events that have previously transpired.
What part of speech is retroactively?
Retroactively is an adverb.
How do you pronounce retroactively?
Retroactively is pronounced /ˌɹɛtɹoʊˈæktɪvli/ (US).

Words near retroactively in the dictionary

  1. retroaction
  2. retroactions
  3. retroactive
  4. retroactive rape
  5. retroactive rapes
  6. retroactively
  7. retroactiveness
  8. retroactivities
  9. retroactivity
  10. retroacts
  11. retroaddition

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: retroactively (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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-NaomiAmethyst-retroactively.wav.

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