Synonyms for regress
- noun
- verb
Most common
Synonyms by meaning
Noun
1. Retrogression
Other
Verb
2. Relapse
Other
Definitions
- n. 1
The act of passing back; passage back; return; retrogression.
- v. 1
To move backwards to an earlier stage; to devolve.
- v. 2
To move backwards to an earlier stage; to devolve. To re-develop behavior one had previously grown out of, particularly a behavior left behind in childhood.
Your nightmares stopped when you were eight years old, but after the house burned down, you regressed.
- v. 3
To move in the retrograde direction.
Related words
- Word family
- regressand regression regressive
- Phrases
- regress argument
Example sentences
- regression It is not progress but regression.
- retrogression Technological retrogression will be unlikely.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| regress | rising | |
| regression | steady | |
| reversion | falling | |
| retrogression | falling | |
| retroversion | rising | |
| retrocession | falling |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 3 letters
- ebb1
- 5 letters
- lapse1
- 6 letters
- return2, revert2, reflux2
- 7 letters
- relapse2
- 9 letters
- reversion3, backslide2, reconvert, refluence, retrovert
- 10 letters
- regression3, retrograde3, retrogress, recidivate
- 12 letters
- retrocession4, retroversion
- 13 letters
- retrogression
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (return2 = 2 syllables).