See Also: Retroactive(money)
retroactive(dictionary)
retroactive(dictionary)
Retroactive(law)
retroactive inhibition(medicine)

retroactive (iou)



retroactive adjective. E17.
[formed as RETROACT + ACTIVE (cf. retrospective), prob. after French retroactif.]
Of legislation etc.: extending in scope or effect to the past, retrospective; backdated. (Foll. by to.) E17.
Operating in a backward direction. rare. E17.
Psychology. That affects the remembering of what has been previously learned. Esp. in retroactive inhibition, the impairment of memory of some learned material or task by subsequent learning of a similar kind. E20.
retroactively adverb E19.
,retroac'tivity noun the condition or fact of being retroactive or retrospective E19.