Meaning
Retroactive means taking effect from a date in the past rather than from the present or future. It is often used in legal, financial, or official contexts when new rules, laws, or payments are applied to past situations.
Grammar and Usage
- Part of speech: adjective
- Typical structure: retroactive + noun (e.g., retroactive law, retroactive pay).
- Often used in contexts like law, contracts, salary adjustments, or policies.
Example sentence pattern:
- The policy is retroactive to January 1.
- Employees received retroactive pay increases.
Common Phrases
- Retroactive law
- Retroactive effect
- Retroactive pay
- Retroactive application
- Retroactive tax
Collocations
- retroactive + effect
- retroactive + date
- retroactive + payment
- retroactive + increase
- apply + retroactively
Examples
- The new tax rules are retroactive to the beginning of the fiscal year.
- She received a retroactive salary increase covering the past six months.
- The court ruled that the decision would not be retroactive.
- The company granted retroactive benefits to employees hired last year.
- Retroactive legislation is often controversial.
- He was given retroactive credit for courses completed previously.
- The contract includes retroactive adjustments to account for inflation.
- The law cannot be applied retroactively in this case.
Synonyms or Related
- retrospective
- backdated
- delayed effect
Antonym
- prospective
- forward-looking