retro
adjective · noun
Simple meaning
Of, or about, the past, past times, or the way things were.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
rehtrohSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɹɛtɹoʊ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Of, or relating to, the past, past times, or the way things were.
Affecting things past; retroactive, ex post facto.
noun
uncountable
Past fashions or trends.
countable
An exhibition of works from an extended period of an artist's activity.
countable
A small rocket engine on a larger rocket or spacecraft, designed to slow or reverse its motion.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- General English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Of, or relating to, the past, past times, or the way things were.
Used this way, retro is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use retro
- “She bought a retro-style dress that looked like it came from the 1970s.”
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.