regressive
Americanadjective
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regressing or tending to regress; retrogressive.
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Biology. of, relating to, or effecting regression.
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(of tax) decreasing proportionately with an increase in the tax base.
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Logic. obtained from or characterized by backward reasoning.
adjective
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regressing or tending to regress
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(of a tax or tax system) levied or graduated so that the rate decreases as the amount taxed increases See progressive
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of, relating to, or characteristic of regression
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of regressive
Explanation
Use the adjective regressive to describe something that moves backward instead of forward, like a society that grants women fewer and fewer rights each year. To understand the word regressive, it's helpful to know that its antonym, or opposite, is progressive. When something is progressive, it tends to get better and more advanced. Something that's regressive, on the other hand, gets less developed or returns to an older state. Since the late 1800s, regressive has also labeled a kind of tax policy that rewards those who make more money and punishes those who make less.
Vocabulary lists containing regressive
"The Pedestrian" by Ray Bradbury
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Government and the Economy, Sections 3–5
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State and Local Governments, Sections 5–6
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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.
One could argue that the burden should be shared more broadly than through a regressive tax on today’s workers.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 30, 2026
The reliance on sales taxes—10.55% in Seattle—is deeply regressive.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 11, 2026
And Chris Birt of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation says the "elephant in the room" is what he calls the lack of any serious plans to reform the "regressive" council tax.
From BBC ● Apr. 11, 2026
Captive in bucolic panopticons, their lives are at once aesthetically alluring, depressingly regressive and anthropologically fascinating.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2026
It was also regressive, a kind of sick introversion.
From Earthsmith by Stephen Marlowe
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
