retard
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
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a slowing down, diminution, or hindrance, as in a machine.
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Slang: Disparaging and Offensive.
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a contemptuous term used to refer to a person who is cognitively impaired.
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a person who is stupid, obtuse, or ineffective in some way.
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Automotive, Machinery. an adjustment made in the setting of the distributor of an internal-combustion engine so that the spark for ignition in each cylinder is generated later in the cycle.
verb
noun
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offensive a retarded person
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offensive a foolish person
Sensitive Note
See retarded.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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retardsimple
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retardssimple
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have retardedperfect
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has retardedperfect
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am retardingprogressive
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are retardingprogressive
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is retardingprogressive
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have been retardingperfect progressive
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has been retardingperfect progressive
Past
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retardedsimple
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had retardedperfect
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was retardingprogressive
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were retardingprogressive
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had been retardingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of retard
First recorded in 1480–90; from Latin retardāre to delay, protract, equivalent to re- re- + tardāre “to loiter, be slow,” derivative of tardus “slow”; see tardy
Explanation
To retard something is to slow it down. A lack of fresh fruit and vegetables can retard the growth of a young child. This word should be used with a lot of caution. Using this word to describe a person is considered offensive and should be avoided. It is often a harmless word when used as a verb. While skiing, a heavy, bulky jacket could retard your progress down the mountain. Keeping a plant out of sunlight would retard its growth.
Vocabulary lists containing retard
Flora and Ulysses
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I Survived the California Wildfires, 2018
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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:
A case in point is a bill on New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s desk that would retard artificial intelligence in the name of protecting public safety.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 11, 2025
The giant trees resist burning thanks to the bark, up to about 30 centimeters thick at the base, which contains tannic acids that retard flames.
From Science Magazine ● Dec. 1, 2023
"Going forward, we'll be able to do tests on mice to see if new molecules that stabilise mitochondrial and autophagic function can retard the disease."
From Science Daily ● Nov. 1, 2023
“Although you may retard an ignition or a fire spread for this season, what you’ve done is grown a lot more biomass to burn in the next year,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2023
I resolved, therefore, that if my immediate union with my cousin would conduce either to hers or my father’s happiness, my adversary’s designs against my life should not retard it a single hour.
From "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley
If the levels of solutes increase beyond a certain range, a hormone is released that retards water loss through the kidney and dilutes the blood to safer levels.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022
Prior Vital Dufour, who was ordained Cardinal of the Catholic church by Pope Clement in 1313, once listed 40 of the virtues of Armagnac including: "It renders man joyous, preserves youth and retards senility."
From BBC ● May 28, 2022
Earlier, Holder posted a tweet that simply stated the law regarding the fines and imprisonment of up to six months that anyone who “willfully obstructs or retards the passage of the mail” can face.
From Slate ● Aug. 15, 2020
Lack of electricity impacts public health — try running a modern hospital without any power — and retards economic growth.
From Time ● Jul. 26, 2011
An unpleasant excitement overpowers the audience; without entirely stopping, Lensky retards his strokes, coughs compassionately, looks short-sightedly squinting after his son.
From Boris Lensky by Schubin, Ossip
It retarded the progress after the Civil War by invalidating the civil rights acts and its invalidation of parts of the Voting Rights Act was fairly typical.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 16, 2022
Based on some of the results, the team thinks microbes retarded the growth of inbreds, rather than giving the hybrids a special boost.
From Science Magazine ● Jul. 29, 2021
Supreme Court ruled that states may not execute “mentally retarded offenders.”
From Slate ● May 22, 2020
Of the four Smith brothers, one has schizophrenia; another, as an infant, was deemed “mentally retarded with autistic tendencies.”
From New York Times ● Jul. 24, 2017
Gay connected the dry cells and he advanced the gas and retarded the spark lever.
From "Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck
Their opposition to transportation projects and other infrastructure, though supposedly grounded in Jeffersonian principle, was a roundabout way of retarding industrial development and ensuring that slavery did not become an economic anachronism.
From Salon ● Jul. 26, 2025
That drove prices in Europe and Asia to all-time highs earlier this year, fanning inflationary pressure and retarding efforts by countries to switch to gas from coal to reduce pollution and carbon emissions.
From Reuters ● May 27, 2022
“The effects of withholding, delaying or retarding Golden Rice development through overcautious regulation has imposed unconscionable costs in terms of years of sight and lives lost,” Regis concludes.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 26, 2019
When that ice recedes, more heat and moisture can warm the air, further retarding ice formation.
From Scientific American ● Dec. 12, 2018
Some insecticides affect sensitive plants such as beans, wheat, barley, or rye, retarding root development or depressing growth of seedlings.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
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.
