Meaning & use
retroactive
Last updated
Applying or referring to a period of time before the law, decision, or policy came into effect.
See it in a sentence
The pay raise was made retroactive to the start of the year.
Lawmakers debated whether the tax change should be retroactive.
A note on using this word
Retroactive is common in legal, financial, and policy contexts to describe rules that reach back and affect past events.
Words with a similar meaning
backdated
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Words with an opposite meaning
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