RETROACTIVE • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Retroactive

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/rˌɛtroʊˈæktɪv/ Listen

Retroactive

adjective

Descriptive of any event or stimulus or process that has an effect on the effects of events or stimuli or process that occurred previously.

Affecting things past. Synonyms: ex post facto, retro. "An ex-post-facto law" , "Retro pay"

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Etymology of 'Retroactive'

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"Retroactive" Quotes from Famous Books

... the class that you regard as the best and purest. No, I say I know you Mr. Trollop. That is to say, one may suggest a thing to Mr. Trollop which it would not do to suggest to Mr. Blank. Mr. Trollop, you are pledged to support the Indigent Congressmen's Retroactive Appropriation which is to come up, either in this or the next session. You do not deny that, even in public. The man that will vote for that bill will break the eighth commandment in ...

— The Gilded Age, Complete • Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner

... 3, 1873, as Grant's first term was drawing to a close, Congress passed a measure increasing the salary of public officials from the President to the members of the House of Representatives. The increase for Congressmen was made retroactive, so that each of them would receive $5,000 for the two years just past. To a country whose fears and suspicions had been aroused by the Credit Mobilier scandal, the "salary grab" and the "back pay steal" were fresh indications ...

— The United States Since The Civil War • Charles Ramsdell Lingley

Words linked to "Retroactive" : proactive, retrospective, psychological science, psychology