prograde
adjective
pro·grade
ˈprō-ˌgrād 
: having or being a direction of rotation or revolution that is counterclockwise as viewed from the north pole of the sky or a planet
Examples of prograde in a Sentence
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The moons closer to Jupiter, including the four Galilean satellites, orbit Jupiter in the same direction as the planet’s rotation — astronomers call this a prograde orbit.
—
Erika K Carlson, Discover Magazine, 17 July 2018
Asteroids with prograde rotations (spinning from west to east, like Earth does) drift away from the sun under this thrust.
—Dante S. Lauretta, Scientific American, 1 Aug. 2016
Two of the three prograde moons fit within the Inuit group, which have angles of inclination of around 46 degrees.
—Jennifer Leman, Popular Mechanics, 8 Oct. 2019
One of the prograde moons has an angle of 36 degrees, similar to the other prograde moons close to Saturn named for Gallic mythology.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN, 7 Oct. 2019
Sending a spacecraft to gently land upon or orbit the object would be extremely difficult, as such a probe would have to burn huge amounts of fuel to cancel out its prograde velocity.
—Lee Billings, Scientific American, 21 May 2018
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Erika K Carlson, Discover Magazine, 17 July 2018
Asteroids with prograde rotations (spinning from west to east, like Earth does) drift away from the sun under this thrust.
—Dante S. Lauretta, Scientific American, 1 Aug. 2016
Two of the three prograde moons fit within the Inuit group, which have angles of inclination of around 46 degrees.
—Jennifer Leman, Popular Mechanics, 8 Oct. 2019
One of the prograde moons has an angle of 36 degrees, similar to the other prograde moons close to Saturn named for Gallic mythology.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN, 7 Oct. 2019
Sending a spacecraft to gently land upon or orbit the object would be extremely difficult, as such a probe would have to burn huge amounts of fuel to cancel out its prograde velocity.
—Lee Billings, Scientific American, 21 May 2018
Cite this Entry
“Prograde.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prograde. Accessed 2 May. 2025.
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