What does "retrofuturistic" mean?

Of or relating to how the future was inaccurately imagined in the past; resembling an outdated vision of the future.

What is a synonym for "retrofuturistic"?

Common synonyms include: retrofuturist.

Pronounced //ˌɹɛtɹəʊˌfjuːt͡ʃəˈɹɪstɪk//.

//ˌɹɛtɹəʊˌfjuːt͡ʃəˈɹɪstɪk// adj

adj ·Rare ·Advanced level

Adjective

1
Of or relating to how the future was inaccurately imagined in the past; resembling an outdated vision of the future.

From retro- (prefix meaning ‘relating to an earlier time’) + futuristic.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.