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
Spinnin' Around
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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
Not that stars tell us much: A Journal study in 2017 showed that five-star funds often regress to being just average after winning the accolade.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 13, 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
Our familiar universe of galaxies and stars, planets and people, would be a single elementary particle in the next universe up, the first step of another infinite regress.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
If the U.S. regresses in friendlies with Ecuador and Australia next month, the angst and despair that have hovered over the team most of the year will return.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2025
It doesn’t lock Pittsburgh into a long-term situation if Johnson regresses and gives Johnson a chance to really cash in during his prime if he outplays the deal.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 4, 2022
Some Black Southern Baptist pastors say they are tired of watching the country progress on racial justice while their own religious community tepidly advances or even regresses on the topic.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 23, 2020
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
The pleasurable feeling-tone which normally belongs to ministering to others, regresses in the nervous invalid to the infantile satisfaction of being ministered unto.
From Outwitting Our Nerves A Primer of Psychotherapy by Josephine A. Jackson
But at Dilley, she regressed behaviorally, wetting herself after years without accidents and begging to breastfeed again despite being 6 years old.
From Slate ● Feb. 3, 2026
"I think there's no doubt that we have regressed as a team for sure, more than is expected of a club like Liverpool," Taylor added.
From BBC ● Dec. 11, 2025
Caleb Ferguson, 29, RP, 0.9, 1.6: A serviceable left-handed option out of the Dodgers’ bullpen from 2018 to 2023, Ferguson hasn’t really progressed or regressed since, playing for four teams in two years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2025
Jones regressed and got benched—raising concerns that Belichick had mismanaged the young passer’s development.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2025
You've probably regressed completely by now, living in that substandard old house with only your mother for company.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
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
But Kidman isn’t debasing herself or regressing just for the sick sight of it all.
From Salon ● Dec. 23, 2024
Bashir is a concern, regressing after a rapid rise.
From BBC ● Dec. 18, 2024
“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
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.
