RETROACTIVE Synonyms: 42 Similar and Opposite Words

retroactive

adjective

Definition of retroactive

as in retrospective

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of retroactive Summary Thousands of student loan borrowers face massive backlogs in the PSLF Buyback program, designed to grant retroactive credit towards Public Service Loan Forgiveness so that borrowers can get their student loans forgiven. — Adam S. Minsky, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2026 The district’s offer includes a total of 8% in raises over two years — 2% retroactive to the start of this year, another 2% for this past July and 4% next July — plus a $2,500 one-time payment for full-time employees. — A.d. Quig, Chicago Tribune, 17 Aug. 2026 Proposition 42 would ban new taxes on personal property and some retroactive state taxes. — Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times, 14 Aug. 2026 Maybe the organization believes that refusing to make the rule retroactive is genuinely the right thing to do. — Trey Wallace Outkick, FOXNews.com, 12 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for retroactive

Recent Examples of Synonyms for retroactive

Adjective

In her later years, Parton solidified her legacy — as multimedia business titan, as a world-class entertainer, and as a brand — through a series of high-profile public appearances and retrospective projects.

— Stephen L. Betts, Rolling Stone, 25 Aug. 2026
Data for prospective studies is collected in real time, while retrospective studies look back at medical records.

— Amy Yurkanin, ProPublica, 24 Aug. 2026

Definition of retrospective

Adjective

To create objects with collapsibility as a core feature, Toyonaga’s team devised an analytic design algorithm allowing incremental construction of complex scissored surfaces.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 29 Aug. 2026
Rigaku brings its experience developing X-ray analytical systems and metrology technologies.

— Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of analytic

Adjective

The now-familiar blend of folk, soul, and psychedelia dominates the album aesthetically, though James took spiritual cues from recordings of meditative organ performances by Alice Coltrane.

— Ryan Leas, Pitchfork, 28 Aug. 2026
Hosted earlier this month, the sound bath was the first of two events in the museum’s new Mindfulness Mornings at the Museum series, where guests can experience a meditative practice in the iconic gallery before opening hours.

— Emily Tarinelli, Los Angeles Times, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of meditative

Adjective

Tycho Crater is visible in the lower region of the lunar disk close to the shadow, while bright ejecta rays of reflective material brighten the darker lunar seas, where lava solidified to form basaltic plains billions of years ago.

— Anthony Wood, Space.com, 28 Aug. 2026
Exhilarating, sublime, and unsettling, these installations—which often incorporate polka-dot balloons, pumpkins, LED lights, and soundtracks—immerse the viewer in infinite reflective surfaces, exploding even small spaces into an endless expanse.

— Livia Caligor, Architectural Digest, 27 Aug. 2026

Definition of reflective

Adjective

The Sisters embody a unique culture of prayer, silence, solitude and community, living in a contemplative and cloistered order.

— Kelly Wilkinson, IndyStar, 27 Aug. 2026
After that feral beginning, the rest of the album is mostly contemplative, wistful, and understated, amid cascading guitars and various sounds that are at times acoustic or gently swirling.

— Steve Appleford, SPIN, 25 Aug. 2026

Definition of contemplative

Adjective

Von Neumann himself helped develop it as a potential remedy for some logical inconsistencies with Hilbert space that troubled him.

— Quanta Magazine, Quanta Magazine, 26 Aug. 2026
There is no logical world in which Sanders can be a backup to a rookie quarterback next year in Cleveland.

— Jason Lloyd, New York Times, 26 Aug. 2026

Definition of logical

Adjective

But the book’s ruminative watchfulness is unsuccessfully conjugated in this overly sedate play with music, which has the feel of a song cycle, though sung by the fine cast with gorgeous, lonely sorrow.

— Brian Seibert, New Yorker, 19 June 2026
Their ruminative hush sets them apart in an era of instant-gratification drops.

— Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 15 June 2026

Definition of ruminative

Browse Nearby Words

retro

retroactive

retrofit

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“Retroactive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/retroactive. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of retroactive

adjective

Example Sentences

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