retroactive
adjUK /ˌɹɛt.ɹəʊˈæk.tɪv/ · US /ˌɹɛ.tɹoʊˈæk.tɪv/
Etymology First attested in 1610. From French rétroactif, equivalent to retro- + active.
1
Extending in scope, effect, application or influence to a prior time or to prior conditions
- 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:
- Can such a child be ennobled by the passage of time, his struggles granted retroactive gravitas and his childish confusions rearticulated with adult clarity?2007 April 15, Liesl Schillinger, “The Night Train to Bucharest”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 16 Jun 2022:
1 more example
- Such assumptions can motivate expressions of cisgenderism such as retroactive misgendering (in which a person's past is described using language that disregards or contrasts with their current designation of their gender) […]2016, Abbie E. Goldberg, The SAGE Encyclopedia of LGBTQ Studies, page 232:
- Synonyms
- ex post facto
- Derived terms
- nonretroactive, retcon, retroactively, retroactiveness, retroactive rape, retroactivity
- Related terms
- retroaction, ex post facto, retrospective