Retroactive: meaning, example and synonyms
Retroactiveadj. Taking effect from a date in the past.
Example
Because the raise was retroactive to January, employees received a lump sum in June covering the higher wages they should have earned all spring.
- Part of speech
- adjective
- Synonyms
- backdated, retrospective, ex post facto
- Antonyms
- prospective, future, forward-looking
- Memory tip
- retro (backward) + active: a rule that acts backward in time.
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Check yourself: Retroactive in context
The new tax applies to all income earned since January; this ______ provision angered businesses that had already set their prices for the year.
Answer: retroactive. A tax reaching back to income already earned takes effect from the past. impetuous (rash), misanthropic (people-hating) and desultory (aimless) don't fit.
Because the pension increase was made ______ to the previous spring, retirees received back payments covering the months before the law passed.
Answer: retroactive. Back payments for months before the law passed show it applied to the past. veritable (truly so), recalcitrant (stubbornly defiant) and discriminating (discerning) don't fit.