retrospect
Looking back mentally
Retrospect is looking back on past events or experiences.
It appears almost exclusively in the phrase in retrospect, meaning when considering something after the fact: In retrospect, I should have taken the job.
The word implies that understanding or judgment comes more easily with hindsight than it did in the moment.
Recalling past experiences
- recollectionRecalled mental image
- memoriesStored past experiences
- recallMemory retrieval act
- remembranceAct of holding something in mind
flashback · memoir · nostalgia · bygone · past · yesteryear · remembering · revisiting
Idea added belatedly
- 20/20Normal visual sharpness
- realizationGrasping what's true
- reassessmentRenewed evaluation of something
- reappraisalNew assessment of value
lessons · consequences · implications · outcome · conclusion · belated · epiphany · insight
Formal evaluation of worth
- appraisalEstimation of worth
- analysisMethodical study of parts
- reviewCritical written assessment
- critiqueDetailed evaluative analysis
reevaluation · scrutiny · examination · judgment · post-mortem · debrief · after-action · autopsy
Sustained reflective attention
- ponderingThinking deeply about something
- ruminationProlonged, repetitive thinking
- reviewCritical written assessment
- reconsiderationRenewed evaluation of something
reassessment · meditation · deliberation · musing · examination · analysis · soul-searching · dwelling
reminiscence
Recalling past experiences
- recollectionRecalled mental image
- memoriesStored past experiences
- recallMemory retrieval act
remembrance · flashback · memoir · nostalgia · bygone · past · yesteryear · remembering · revisiting · time-travel
afterthought
Idea added belatedly
- 20/20Normal visual sharpness
- realizationGrasping what's true
- reassessmentRenewed evaluation of something
reappraisal · lessons · consequences · implications · outcome · conclusion · belated · epiphany · insight · clarity
assessment
Formal evaluation of worth
critique · reevaluation · scrutiny · examination · judgment · post-mortem · debrief · after-action · autopsy · stocktaking
contemplation
Sustained reflective attention
- ponderingThinking deeply about something
- ruminationProlonged, repetitive thinking
- reviewCritical written assessment
reconsideration · reassessment · meditation · deliberation · musing · examination · analysis · soul-searching · dwelling · brooding
- timesecond, minute, hour, day, seconds
- life lessonslesson learned, moral, lessons learned, life lessons, parable
- memoriesmemories, remember, recollections, childhood memory, childhood memories
- nostalgianostalgia, nostalgic, memories, memory, remember
- Looking Backremember, recall, memory, reminisce, reminiscing
- time traveltime machine, time loop, time jump, time slip, causal loop
retrospectprospect
Potential client or opportunity
foresight · forethought · anticipation · preview · forecast
retrospectprophecy
Foretelling of future events
prognostication · prescience · forecasting · speculation · divination
- in retrospectConsidering past events now
- career retrospectiveReview of professional achievements
retrospective, retrospection, retrospectively, retrospects, retrospections