regress
Americanverb (used without object)
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regresses,
present (3rd person singular)
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regressed,
past participle, past
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regressing
present participle
noun
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the act of going back; return.
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the right to go back.
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backward movement or course; retrogression.
verb
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(intr) to return or revert, as to a former place, condition, or mode of behaviour
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(tr) statistics to measure the extent to which (a dependent variable) is associated with one or more independent variables
noun
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the act of regressing
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movement in a backward direction; retrogression
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logic a supposed explanation each stage of which requires to be similarly explained, as saying that knowledge requires a justification in terms of propositions themselves known to be true
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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regresssimple
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regressessimple
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have regressedperfect
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has regressedperfect
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am regressingprogressive
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are regressingprogressive
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is regressingprogressive
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have been regressingperfect progressive
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has been regressingperfect progressive
Past
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regressedsimple
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had regressedperfect
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was regressingprogressive
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were regressingprogressive
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had been regressingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of regress
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English regresse (noun), from Latin regressus “a return,” noun use of past participle of regredī “to go back, return,” from re- re- + -gredī, combining form of gradī “to step, walk, go”; cf. gradient
Explanation
To regress is to return to a former state or condition, and not usually in a good way. It often means "relapse" or "get worse." First used in the late 14th century as a noun meaning "act of going back," regress originates from the Latin regress, meaning "a return." Many feel that the regress to anti-social behavior among teenagers is caused by violent video games, TV shows, and movies. A 30 year old forced to move back home may regress to old, childlike habits. It can also happen to someone's health, like when the condition of someone in recovery takes a turn for the worse.
Vocabulary lists containing regress
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Vocabulary from The Articles of Confederation
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100 SAT words Beginning with "R"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"Its the perfect time" for South Korea to leverage its strategic advantage and make investments as "the AI boom might die down" and demand could regress, he told AFP.
From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026
Instead, the cells appeared to regress into a more juvenile form.
From Science Daily ● May 27, 2026
Mississippi’s fourth-graders will again regress toward the mean.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 8, 2026
Yet if these growth rates regress to the mean, as they have in the past, value stocks are quite likely to outperform growth stocks over the next several years.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 30, 2026
On the night of the sleepover, she and Shanti regress easily to twelve-year-old behavior.
From "You Bring the Distant Near" by Mitali Perkins
The musical trio regresses into that awkwardness of knowing they’ve shared a special moment, but there isn’t much left to say to each other besides so long and good luck.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2025
Their presence ensures that if the Cougars’ front seven regresses — the linebacking unit was hit hard by attrition — the scope will be limited.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 16, 2023
As the movie’s biggest name, Vaughn regresses to his second-rate deadpan comedy roles of old, forcing his way through a comedically constipated performance.
From New York Times ● Aug. 27, 2020
Beneath the myriad patinas of culture, there is a fixed human nature that neither improves nor regresses.
From Washington Post ● May 30, 2019
Without radioactivity to maintain it, the disease seems to be arrested immediately, and if the tissue damage has not gone too far, the tumor regresses and eventually disappears.
From The Star Lord by Boyd Ellanby
Saachi Jain, OpenAI’s head of safety systems, said in an interview that GPT-6.1 Astra regressed in two areas compared with its predecessor and wasn’t reliable enough to safely release.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
On the contrary, this return to “A Different World” simultaneously reminds us of how far TV has regressed since the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.
From Salon ● Sep. 24, 2026
However, why England's 2025 progress stalled so dramatically, and why the team regressed so alarmingly, is still unexplained, in public at least.
From BBC ● May 5, 2026
The study, which analyzed 109 of the top English-language theatrical film releases of 2025, found that racially diverse and gender diverse representation regressed despite reaching highs in previous years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 12, 2026
Reviewing the data on Algernon: although he is still in his physical youth, he has regressed mentally.
From "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes
You didn’t need nine hours of talk radio to absorb it: These Patriots were overrated, these Patriots were regressing, these Patriots were staring at a season they could be worse than the freaking Jets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
More than two decades after these aired, we’ve swerved between an age of unattainable thinness being pushed as a cultural ideal and a time of healthy-at-any-size body positivity from which we’re slowly regressing.
From Salon ● Oct. 1, 2026
Greyson was meeting all his milestones and speaking normally until age 2, when he started regressing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2025
At a time where it feels like society is regressing in their attitudes towards the LGBTQ+ community, a film that celebrates queer chosen families is a salve.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 1, 2025
“Barb” is what I was called as a child, and still am by my siblings, and I sense that at some level I’m regressing.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
