retrogress

[re-truh-gres, re-truh-gres]

verb (used without object)

1. to go backward into an earlier and usually worse condition.

   to retrogress to infantilism.

   Synonyms: revert, retreat, withdraw, retrograde, degenerate, decline

2. to move backward.

retrogress

/ ˌrɛtrəʊˈɡrɛs /

verb

1. to go back to an earlier, esp worse, condition; degenerate or deteriorate

2. to move backwards; recede

3. biology to develop characteristics or features of lower or simpler organisms; degenerate

Other Word Forms

• retrogression noun
• retrogressively adverb
• retrogressive adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of retrogress¹

First recorded in 1810–20; from Latin retrōgressus, past participle of retrōgradī “to go back or backward,” equivalent to retrō- “back, backward, behind” + gred-, combining form of gradī “to step, go” + -tus past participle suffix, with dt becoming ss; retro-

Word History and Origins

Origin of retrogress¹

C19: from Latin retrōgressus having moved backwards, from retrōgradī ; see _retrograde

Example Sentences

And for those in need of retrogressing even further, a host of family entertainments spring up every summer in the West End, cartoon-colored affairs that speak the jolly and exaggerated language of Christmas pantomimes.

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“With the freedoms we have created, Liberia cannot retrogress,” she says.

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“Please don’t let it be that we are retrogressing to that horrible time in the ’70s,” Ms. Laurie said in an interview on Sunday.

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Shusterman loved the law, loved its clarity and contradictions, believing it embodied “the dynamics of living, the progress or retrogressing that we’re involved in.”

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But, although wine has not led me to the goal of my desires, I will not stray from its path, for when one follows a road he cannot retrogress.

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