Retro

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ˈɹɛt.ɹəʊ/

Definitions

1. A style or design that imitates or revives trends, aesthetics, or cultural elements from past decades
2. A creative trend that embraces and revitalizes aesthetics or styles from earlier times, often evoking a sense of nostalgia
3. A movement that honors and incorporates design, fashion, or pop culture elements reminiscent of previous eras, often appealing to nostalgic sentiments

Etymology: The adjective "retro" is a clipped borrowing from French, where "rétro" was itself shortened from "rétrograde" and came from Latin "retro", meaning "backwards" or "behind". The Latin word carried the sense of looking or moving back, which explains why the French form was attached to things that faced the past. In English, the word took on its current sense of deliberately copying the styles of earlier decades, so a retro jacket or retro typeface is one made to look like something from an earlier era rather than something actually old. The shift from a literal direction, backwards, to a stylistic attitude toward time is the core of its meaning.

Synonyms: nostalgic, vintage, old-fashioned, backward-looking, past

Antonyms: modern, contemporary, futuristic, new, current