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Referring to a law, a ruling, and so on affecting matters that occurred beforehand; affecting past happenings. See also prospective. Webster's New World Law. Synonyms: retro. ex post facto. Antonyms: proactive. Origin of Retroactive.
formal. : effective from a particular date in the past. They all received a retroactive pay raise. The new tax will be retroactive to January 1. — retroactively. adverb. The new law will be applied retroactively. RETROACTIVE meaning: effective from a particular date in the past.
1. applying or referring to the past: retroactive legislation. 2. effective or operative from a date or for a period in the past. ˌretroˈactively adv. ˌretroˈactiveness, ˌretroacˈtivity n. Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014.
