Synonyms

regressive

American

[ri-gres-iv] / rɪˈgrɛs ɪv /

adjective

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.

Other Word Forms

nonregressive adjective
nonregressively adverb
regressively adverb
regressiveness noun
regressivity noun
unregressive adjective
unregressively adverb
unregressiveness noun

Etymology

Origin of regressive

First recorded in 1625–35; regress + -ive

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.

The draft law reduces severance pay, allows payments in kind and restricts vacation usage, among other proposals that the General Confederation of Labor considers "regressive."

From Barron's

As women increasingly assert their right to choose their partners, Srivastava adds, they often encounter resistance from what she describes as "a deeply regressive social system".

From BBC

It highlighted societal changes in Saudi Arabia that allowed edgy American comedians to perform in a country long dismissed as irredeemably puritanical and regressive.

From The Wall Street Journal

This contrast is a good deal more dramatically compelling than the somewhat overwrought psychological drama that exerts a regressive pull on “anthropology.”

From Los Angeles Times

Meanwhile, popular and scholarly treatments of white Southerners as overwhelmingly conservative and racially regressive abound.

From Salon

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023