retro-futuristic adj.
having both retro and futuristic elements; of or resembling a style or aesthetic considered futuristic in an earlier era
SF Criticism
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1983 N.Y. Times 27 Oct. 23 (advt.)
Silverized steel and sleek grey linked for a retro-futuristic look.
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1985 Brazil in Cinefantastique Oct. 8/3 (review)
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Both films make extensive use of retro-futuristic devices such as TV, telephone, and even tubular message senders.
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1994 in Dragon Magazine (#212) Dec. 59/3 (review)
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The mysterious science-fiction plot, the script, the characters, the retro-futuristic design, the spooky atmosphere, and the paranoiac point-of-view protagonist all combine to produce the most satisfying multimedia experience I’ve ever had.
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2000 Afterburn 316
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His taxi raced…past hundreds of enormous construction sites…. This Shanghai, new yet already retro[-]futuristic, forced itself brutally upward through the accumulated crust, erasing the narrow lanes of crumbling brick and pagoda roofs.
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2006 Thought Experiments in Asimov’s Science Fiction July 12/2
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Therese Littleton
Seattle…. We’ve got a retro-futuristic monorail, a Space Needle, and more computer geeks than we know what to do with.
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2015 Armada 203
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Ernest Cline
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Everything was sleek, ergonomic, and vaguely retro-futuristic in its design, which often appeared to favor form over function.
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2024 Bringing Fallout’s Gritty Retrofuturism Into the Real World in The Verge 23 Apr.
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Cummings and his team used the word Fallout as a shorthand to describe the particular retrofuturistic, post-apocalyptic style the franchise is known for.
Research requirements
antedating 1983
Research History
The definition and first quotation are taken directly from the OED3 entry.
Last modified 2025-10-08 02:41:21
In the compilation of some
entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries
in OED.