How to Use retroactive in a Sentence

retroactive

adjective
  • They all received a retroactive pay raise.
  • The new tax will be retroactive to January 1.
  • But the rule is not retroactive.
    — Robert W. Wood, Forbes.com, 25 Aug. 2025
  • At issue is whether the bill is retroactive and what that means.
    — oregonlive.com, 24 Aug. 2019
  • But the threat of retroactive fines clearly hasn't done the trick.
    — Brian Barrett, WIRED, 21 Mar. 2018
  • The move is retroactive to March 31.
    — Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald, 3 Apr. 2026
  • The move was retroactive two days to Friday.
    — David Brown, Twin Cities, 8 Sep. 2025
  • The law made the actions retroactive with its sights on Gary.
    — Carole Carlson, Chicago Tribune, 22 May 2026
  • The move was made retroactive to Friday.
    — CBS News, 20 Apr. 2026
  • The move was made retroactive to Monday.
    — Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 27 May 2026
  • The move is retroactive to Monday.
    — Patrick Saunders, Denver Post, 15 Apr. 2026
  • The move is retroactive to Monday.
    — Lamond Pope, Chicago Tribune, 8 Aug. 2025
  • The raises, if approved, would be retroactive to the start of the school year.
    — Leslie Postal, orlandosentinel.com, 16 Oct. 2020
  • That change, Holmes proposed in her draft bill, would be retroactive.
    — Ethan Baron, Mercury News, 30 Nov. 2025
  • Nearly two of those years are in the past, so much of the increase will be retroactive.
    — Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times, 15 Apr. 2026
  • The move with Brown was made retroactive to Thursday.
    — ABC News, 5 Apr. 2026
  • That is retroactive back to almost the beginning of the year.
    — Martin Shenkman, Forbes.com, 14 July 2025
  • Many have noted its retroactive nature.
    — Robertas Bakula, Oc Register, 23 Apr. 2026
  • The retroactive move is called deferral.
    — Juliana Kim, NPR, 18 Mar. 2026
  • The order was not retroactive, and applied to children born in the future.
    — Ted Johnson, Deadline, 1 Apr. 2026
  • The law is not retroactive, so renters could still be charged up to three months rent until June 30.
    — Phillip Molnar, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Jan. 2024
  • The good news is that some of the credits would survive the House’s scalpel and none of the changes are retroactive.
    — Marie Sapirie, Forbes.com, 27 May 2025
  • He was placed on the IL retroactive to June 9 with a bone bruise in his left knee.
    — Sean Campbell, Sacbee.com, 13 June 2026
  • Do the Coyotes records suddenly get chopped, in a retroactive sense?
    — Sean McIndoe, New York Times, 3 Jan. 2026
  • The order, which lasts for 60 days, is retroactive to March 19.
    — Mallory Moench, SFChronicle.com, 5 June 2020
  • Finally, though the tax was made law this year, it was made retroactive back to 2022.
    — Trevor Wagener, Orlando Sentinel, 2 Dec. 2024
  • That’s because the school year is half over, and the raises are retroactive to July 1.
    — Scott Travis, Sun-Sentinel.com, 20 Dec. 2017
  • Some of the tax changes that occurred for this tax filing year are retroactive to the start of 2025.
    — Angelica Leicht, CBS News, 14 Apr. 2026
  • Grissom’s move to the IL was retroactive to Friday.
    — Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2026
  • The measure is not retroactive and won’t apply to current prisoners.
    — Julia Frankel, Los Angeles Times, 31 Mar. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'retroactive.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: