retrograde

American  

[re-truh-greyd] / ˈrɛ trəˌgreɪd /

adjective

1. moving backward; having a backward motion or direction; retiring or retreating.

2. inverse or reversed, as order.

   Synonyms:

   backward

3. Chiefly Biology. exhibiting degeneration or deterioration.

4. Astronomy.

   1. moving in an orbit in the direction opposite to that of the earth in its revolution around the sun.

   2. appearing to move on the celestial sphere in the direction opposite to the natural order of the signs of the zodiac, or from east to west.

5. Music. proceeding from the last note to the first.

   a melody in retrograde motion.

6. Archaic. contrary; opposed.

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verb (used without object)

• retrogrades,
  present (3rd person singular)
• retrograded,
  past participle,  past
• retrograding
  present participle

1. to move or go backward; retire or retreat.

   Synonyms:

   retrocede, recede, withdraw

2. Chiefly Biology. to decline to a worse condition; degenerate.

3. Astronomy. to have a retrograde motion.

verb (used with object)

• retrogrades,
  present (3rd person singular)
• retrograded,
  past participle,  past
• retrograding
  present participle

1. Archaic. to turn back.

retrograde British  

/ ˈrɛtrəʊˌɡreɪd /

adjective

1. moving or bending backwards

2. (esp of order) reverse or inverse

3. tending towards an earlier worse condition; declining or deteriorating

4. astronomy

   1. occurring or orbiting in a direction opposite to that of the earth's motion around the sun Compare direct

   2. occurring or orbiting in a direction around a planet opposite to the planet's rotational direction

      the retrograde motion of the satellite Phoebe around Saturn

   3. appearing to move in a clockwise direction due to the rotational period exceeding the period of revolution around the sun

      Venus has retrograde rotation

5. biology tending to retrogress; degenerate

6. music of, concerning, or denoting a melody or part that is played backwards

7. obsolete opposed, contrary, or repugnant to

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verb

1. to move in a retrograde direction; retrogress

2. military another word for retreat

retrograde Scientific  

/ rĕt′rə-grād′ /

1. Having a rotational or orbital movement that is opposite to the movement of most bodies within a celestial system. In the solar system, retrograde bodies are those that rotate or orbit in a clockwise direction (east to west) when viewed from a vantage point above the Earth's north pole. Venus, Uranus, and Pluto have retrograde rotational movements. No planets in the solar system have retrograde orbital movements, but four of Jupiter's moons exhibit such movement.

2. Having a brief, regularly occurring, apparently backward movement in the sky as viewed from Earth against the background of fixed stars. Retrograde movement of the planets is caused by the differing orbital velocities of Earth and the body observed. For example, the outer planets normally appear to drift gradually eastward in the sky in relation to the fixed stars; that is, they appear night after night to fall a little farther behind the neighboring stars in their westward passage across the sky. However, at certain times a particular planet appears briefly to speed up and move westward a bit more quickly than the neighboring stars. This happens as Earth, in its faster inner orbit, overtakes and passes the planet in its slower outer orbit; the appearance of moving counter to its usual eastward drift is thus simply the result of perspective as seen from Earth.

3. Compare prograde

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• retrogradation
  noun
• unretrograded
  adjective
• unretrograding
  adjective
• retrogradely
  adverb
• retrogradingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• retrograding
  present
• retrograded
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• retrograde
  simple
• retrogrades
  simple
• have retrograded
  perfect
• has retrograded
  perfect
• am retrograding
  progressive
• are retrograding
  progressive
• is retrograding
  progressive
• have been retrograding
  perfect progressive
• has been retrograding
  perfect progressive

Past

• retrograded
  simple
• had retrograded
  perfect
• was retrograding
  progressive
• were retrograding
  progressive
• had been retrograding
  perfect progressive

Future

• will retrograde
  simple
• will have retrograded
  perfect
• will be retrograding
  progressive
• will have been retrograding
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of retrograde

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English (adjective), from Latin retrōgradus going back, derivative of retrōgradī, equivalent to retrō- retro- + gradī “to step, go”; see grade

Explanation

Retrograde describes moving in a backwards or reverse direction. If you're suddenly told that you can no longer vote because you're a woman, that's a retrograde affront to your civil rights. Start protesting! This word comes from the Latin retrogradus, meaning "going backward." You might hear retrograde used in astronomy to describe the movements of the planets. If a planet like Mercury is in retrograde, that means it appears to be moving backwards. Retrograde can also describe something that's going from better to worse. The farm's retrograde practice of spraying their crops with harsher and harsher pesticides is causing our health to suffer.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

retrograde retrogrades retrograded retrograding

A bizarre hodgepodge of retrograde machismo and perfectly manicured nails.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026

Some of the listed performers, including Bret Michaels, Milli Vanilli and Vanilla Ice, weren’t all that shocking given Trump’s retrograde pop music taste.

From Salon ● Jun. 7, 2026

The dreamy vistas of domestic arts, which may have once seemed frivolous, passé, even politically retrograde for some, become a source of deep allure for people of different political stripes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 4, 2025

Anyone familiar with the HBO series “The Idol” that Tesfaye co-created will soon sense an unwelcome reprise of that short-lived showbiz yarn’s retrograde misogyny.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 16, 2025

In that letter Jefferson had mentioned Adams in passing as a retrograde thinker opposed to all forms of progress, one of the “ancients” rather than “moderns.”

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

Sometimes it is said that the high retrogrades, or backs off to the west, allowing the storm track to come down the coast.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 3, 2021

Known in our dancers’ nomenclature as “The King and Queen,” it is built primarily on one basic theme with its inversions, reversals and retrogrades.

From New York Times ● Sep. 8, 2015

Or he might be overthrown and replaced by retrogrades who would have at their disposal the military wherewithal to engage once again in old thinking and old behavior.

From Time Magazine Archive

He could goad the traditionalists beneath him, promote the "new thinkers," purge the retrogrades, and keep an eye out for obstructionism, sabotage, insurgency.

From Time Magazine Archive

If it falters and is no longer obeyed, if it is forced and pushed from without by a violent pressure, it ceases to control public affairs, and the social organization retrogrades by many steps.

From The French Revolution - Volume 1 by John Durand

Fu ture productions which fail to measure up to its stiff standards of achievement may be considered to have retrograded.

From Time Magazine Archive

Again hear the report:—'If the present state of the county of Demerara affords cause for deep apprehension, your commissioners find that Essequibo has retrograded to a still more alarming extent.

From Cotton is King, and Pro-Slavery Arguments Comprising the Writings of Hammond, Harper, Christy, Stringfellow, Hodge, Bledsoe, and Cartrwright on This Important Subject by E. N. Elliott

The plain truth is that during these years, except in the matter of bye and cross-post letters, the Post Office had retrograded rather than advanced.

From The History of the Post Office From Its Establishment Down to 1836 by Herbert Joyce

To the left, however, the street retrograded into second-hand stores, junk-shops, and the like, cheap eating places and boarding-houses, with a mixture of saloons.

From Ralph in the Switch Tower by Allen Chapman

We shall discover, in a word, whether we have advanced, in dependence upon the Spirit of God and in recognition of our responsibilities, or whether we have retrograded through self-trust and indifference.

From Presbyterian Worship Its Spirit, Method and History by Robert Johnston

“Similar retrograding blocks in the past have been associated with periods of colder and wintry weather in the Eastern U.S.,” meteorologist John Homenuk wrote on Twitter.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 29, 2022

The four boys were looking for possible routes of escape when Red’s brother decided that in arbitration lay his salvation from this swiftly retrograding dilemma.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy

Judging from appearances, however, it would seem that the town is not growing in population or business relations, but is rather retrograding.

From Equatorial America Descriptive of a Visit to St. Thomas, Martinique, Barbadoes, and the Principal Capitals of South America by Maturin Murray Ballou

To avoid retrograding in my narrative, I will just briefly mention, that the other three divisions met with a share of luck equally slender: not one of them found what they sought.

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 61, No. 377, March 1847 by Various

If community life is static, school and church stay in the ruts; if it is retrograding, they are losing ground; if it is progressive, they gradually show improvement.

From Society Its Origin and Development by Henry Kalloch Rowe