retroactive

Definition

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

Etymology

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

Example Sentences

• "Rather, he hoped there was some legal trickeration he could deploy to get a retroactive water right filed and end-run the opposition."
• "Can such a child be ennobled by the passage of time, his struggles granted retroactive gravitas and his childish confusions rearticulated with adult clarity?"
• "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) […]"

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