regressive
[ri-gres-iv]
- regressing or tending to regress; retrogressive.
- Biology. of, relating to, or effecting regression.
- (of tax) decreasing proportionately with an increase in the tax base.
- Logic. obtained from or characterized by backward reasoning.
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Origin of regressive
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
rightistrigidregressivecounterrevolutionaryrightobscurantistToryrearwardbackrecedingconverseinvertedevertedturneddie-hardorthodoxtraditionalretrogressivetraditionalisticold-lineExamples from the Web for regressive
Contemporary Examples
A wave of critics, though, has been denouncing it as anti-democratic and regressive.
The media, much of it in the hands of regressive establishment figures, eagerly cheered them on.
Finally, while sales taxes are regressive, you can make a pretty good case that taxes on e-commerce are progressive.
Today, California may worship at the altar of science, but increasingly in the most regressive, hysterical, and reactionary way.
Obama's defense of federalism in this instance is not a regressive throwback; it is a pragmatic strategy.
Historical Examples
He had conquered his regressive tendencies and his speech was improving.
PsychoanalysisAndr Tridon
In so far as sleep is psychologically determined, it is a regressive phenomenon.
Benign StuporsAugust Hoch
The double work-support is, of course, a great improvement, while the tool-support is regressive since it lacks a feed screw.
Whether in regressive or progressive series, each to-day presents a case of arrested development.
The North American Slime-MouldsThomas H. (Thomas Huston) MacBride
Sanity and insanity are, roughly speaking, states where progressive or regressive thinking rule.
Benign StuporsAugust Hoch
regressive
- regressing or tending to regress
- (of a tax or tax system) levied or graduated so that the rate decreases as the amount taxed increasesSee progressive (def. 5)
- of, relating to, or characteristic of regression
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for regressive
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
regressive
(rĭ-grĕs′ĭv)- Having a tendency to return or to revert.
- Characterized by regression.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.