regress
Americanverb (used without object)
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
Mississippi’s fourth-graders will again regress toward the mean.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 8, 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
On the night of the sleepover, she and Shanti regress easily to twelve-year-old behavior.
From "You Bring the Distant Near" by Mitali Perkins
He has an unusually poor home run to fly ball rate, a stat that typically regresses to the mean over large sample sizes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2023
Their presence ensures that if the Cougars’ front seven regresses — the linebacking unit was hit hard by attrition — the scope will be limited.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 16, 2023
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
But Atlanta, and its know-nothing Liberty Media ownership, seems unaware that analytics predict its five-man rotation will not have anybody with an ERA under 4.00 as everybody regresses toward previous career performance.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 17, 2019
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 Jackson, Josephine A.
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
The Rams have regressed a bit on defence and there's a significant special teams advantage to Seattle.
From BBC ● Jan. 25, 2026
Jones, the next quarterback the Pats hoped would fill Brady’s shoes, regressed after a promising rookie year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026
Following this treatment, the remaining tumour fully regressed.
From BBC ● Jan. 6, 2026
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
He had a 2.05 ERA and 24 saves the following season, before regressing to a 3.62 mark in 2024.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 21, 2025
Greyson was meeting all his milestones and speaking normally until age 2, when he started regressing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2025
England are improving, Ireland regressing, but France are steaming ahead.
From BBC ● Mar. 16, 2025
But Kidman isn’t debasing herself or regressing just for the sick sight of it all.
From Salon ● Dec. 23, 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.
