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.
Other Word Forms
- nonregressive adjective
- nonregressively adverb
- regressively adverb
- regressiveness noun
- regressivity noun
- unregressive adjective
- unregressively adverb
- unregressiveness noun
Etymology
Origin of regressive
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 U.S. tax and transfer system—referring to government payments made to low-income taxpayers—is “highly progressive,” and although states generally have more regressive tax systems, they have more generous distribution programs, Walczak says.
From Barron's • Mar. 21, 2026
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 • Feb. 3, 2026
Although the manosphere content often cited by media and scholars is not necessarily racially regressive, it is distinctly gender regressive, and that appears to be taking a toll on Gen Z.
From Slate • Jan. 6, 2026
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 • Oct. 23, 2025
The regressive trend was, in fact, a vicious circle.
From The Rising Tide of Color Against White World-Supremacy by Stoddard, Lothrop
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.
