relapse
Americanverb (used without object)
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relapses,
present (3rd person singular)
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relapsed,
past participle, past
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relapsing
present participle
noun
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relapses
plural
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an act or instance of relapsing.
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a return of a disease or illness after partial recovery from it.
verb
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to lapse back into a former state or condition, esp one involving bad habits
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to become ill again after apparent recovery
noun
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the act or an instance of relapsing
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the return of ill health after an apparent or partial recovery
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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relapsesimple
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relapsessimple
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have relapsedperfect
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has relapsedperfect
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am relapsingprogressive
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are relapsingprogressive
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is relapsingprogressive
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have been relapsingperfect progressive
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has been relapsingperfect progressive
Past
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relapsedsimple
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had relapsedperfect
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was relapsingprogressive
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were relapsingprogressive
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had been relapsingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of relapse
First recorded in 1400–50; (for the verb) late Middle English, from Latin relāpsus “slid back,” past participle of relābī “to slide back, revert,” from re- re- + lābī “to fall, slide, make a mistake”; noun derivative of the verb
Explanation
A relapse is a decline, especially of someone's health. If your grandmother survived cancer only to have it return two years later, you could say she suffered a relapse. Relapse implies that someone has recovered from an illness and slid back into a worse state, like when you are getting over a cold but then you suddenly feel bad all over again. Unwanted behavior can also be described this way; if you find yourself biting your nails again, it's a nail-biting relapse. The Latin word relabi is the root of relapse, slip back.
Vocabulary lists containing relapse
Spinnin' Around
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Esperanza Rising
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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:
“What this vaccine does is reduce that risk of relapse significantly.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026
It is often given to patients to prevent a relapse.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
Some experts think they could make the behaviors worse or cause people to relapse, especially for conditions like anorexia.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
Now, after 33 months of follow-up, none of the patients have experienced a relapse.
From Science Daily ● May 6, 2026
He’s suffered a relapse, I thought; he is back in his delirium.
From "Z for Zachariah" by Robert C. O’Brien
The European Commission approved Cenrifki for secondary progressive multiple sclerosis without relapses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
"The children's hospital in Bristol has an ongoing clinical trial specifically for Burkitt's lymphoma relapses, so the timing is good," said Lloyd.
From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026
If a patient relapses or breaks a rule in a rehab facility, the knee-jerk impulse should not be to discharge them from the program.
From Slate ● Dec. 19, 2025
She’s not sure how her policy on relapses fits in.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2025
Sometimes, when I have relapses of my old demon, I lie in the crook of his arm and he comforts me this way, talking to me all night long to stave off the bad dreams.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
After her condition relapsed before joining OpenAI, Simo decided to work remotely from Southern California.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 3, 2026
The Food and Drug Administration has accepted a biologics license application for anito-cel as a fourth-line treatment for patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.
From Barron's ● Feb. 23, 2026
Individuals who had relapsed after therapy had significantly narrower cristae than newly diagnosed patients, with the most dramatic differences appearing in those previously treated with venetoclax.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 23, 2025
Her MS hasn’t relapsed in a while, but she has limited sensation in her hands, feet and ankles, and says she sometimes has trouble with her short-term memory.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 9, 2025
He braced himself before entering his dad’s room, fearing he might have relapsed, but when he went in, a happy scene awaited him.
From "Gregor the Overlander" by Suzanne Collins
Novartis said it plans to seek regulatory authorization in relapsing multiple sclerosis globally for the drug, which is already approved in the U.S. and the European Union as a skin treatment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
I was initially diagnosed with relapsing remitting MS.
From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026
This allowed them to identify traces of several pathogens, including Yersinia pestis, the bacterium responsible for plague, and Borrelia recurrentis, which causes louse borne relapsing fever.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 8, 2026
But now, almost a decade later, the Times looks to be relapsing into bad form.
From Salon ● Apr. 6, 2026
"Alive," she echoes, as if she were relapsing to her old quoting days.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
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.
