regress
1re·gress
noun \ˈrē-ˌgres\Definition of REGRESS
1
a : an act or the privilege of going or coming back b : reentry 1
2
: movement backward to a previous and especially worse or more primitive state or condition
3
: the act of reasoning backward
Origin of REGRESS
Middle English regresse, from Anglo-French, from Latin regressus, from regredi to go back, from re- + gradi to go — more at grade
First Known Use: 14th century
Rhymes with REGRESS
abscess, access, address, aggress, assess, bench-press, caress, clothespress, coatdress, cold-press, compress, confess, cross-dress, CS, depress, de-stress, digress, distress, drill press, egress, excess, express, finesse, fluoresce, French press, full-dress, handpress, headdress, housedress, idlesse, impress, ingress, Meknes, much less, nightdress, noblesse, no less, obsess, oppress, outguess, possess, precess, prestress, princess, process, profess, progress, recess, redress, re-press, repress, shirtdress, side-dress, SS, success, sundress, suppress, tendresse, top-dress, transgress, undress, unless, web press, winepress, word stress
2re·gress
verb \ri-ˈgres\Definition of REGRESS
intransitive verb
1
a : to make or undergo regress : retrograde b : to be subject to or exhibit regression
2
: to tend to approach or revert to a mean
transitive verb
: to induce a state of psychological regression in
— re·gres·sor \-ˈgre-sər\ noun
Examples of REGRESS
- The patient is regressing to a childlike state.
- <in extreme circumstances, people sometimes regress to the behavior they exhibited in childhood>
First Known Use of REGRESS
1552
re·gress
intransitive verb \ri-ˈgres\ (Medical Dictionary)Medical Definition of REGRESS
: to undergo or exhibit regression <a regressing lesion>
transitive verb
: to induce a state of psychological regression in <regress a hypnotized subject>
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