retrogress

American  

[re-truh-gres, re-truh-gres] / ˌrɛ trəˈgrɛs, ˈrɛ trəˌgrɛs /

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.

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retrogress British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

• retrogression noun
• retrogressive adjective
• retrogressively adverb

Etymology

Origin of retrogress

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; see retro-

Example Sentences

Sir: Premarital Murdock flagrantly contradicts his own anthropology and science when he advocates that we should retrogress thousands of years into the primitive "gland-motivated" society.

From Time Magazine Archive

Not to struggle is to retrogress, to collapse, to go revisionist.

From Time Magazine Archive

But, as a matter of fact, there are species which are arrested; there are some that retrogress.

From Creative Evolution by Mitchell, Arthur

That certain animals degenerate or retrogress in their development is susceptible of ready and familiar illustration.

From Degeneracy Its Causes, Signs and Results by Talbot, Eugene S.

They begin in Piccadilly, and progress, or rather retrogress, through Leicester Square on to Tottenham Court Road and Oxford Street, and thence to the Euston Road, ending their sad careers in Bishopsgate and Whitechapel.

From Regeneration by Haggard, Henry Rider