regressive

adjective

re·​gres·​sive ri-ˈgre-siv 

1

: tending to regress or produce regression

2

: being, characterized by, or developing in the course of an evolutionary process involving increasing simplification of bodily structure

3

: decreasing in rate as the base increases

a regressive tax

regressively adverb

regressiveness noun

regressivity

ˌrē-ˌgre-ˈsi-və-tē 

noun

Examples of regressive in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Captive in bucolic panopticons, their lives are at once aesthetically alluring, depressingly regressive and anthropologically fascinating. —Los Angeles Times, 7 Apr. 2026

Thus, the system is regressive for them on both the front and back ends — the burden of the original high tariffs and now the denial of rebates to compensate them. —Robert Hormats, Fortune, 6 Apr. 2026

What many fail to appreciate is that the housing shortage functions like a regressive tax and becomes the central driver of Bay Area inequality. —Russell Hancock, Mercury News, 4 Apr. 2026

And sources of public funding can be brutally regressive, derived from taxes on items like lottery tickets, which are bought disproportionately by the poor. —Louisa Thomas, New Yorker, 29 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1634, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for regressive

• aggressive
• compressive
• concessive
• depressive
• excessive
• expressive
• impressive
• obsessive
• oppressive
• possessive
• progressive
• recessive

Kids Definition

regressive

adjective

re·​gres·​sive ri-ˈgres-iv 

1

: of, relating to, or tending toward regression

2

: gradually decreasing

a regressive tax

Medical Definition

regressive

adjective

re·​gres·​sive ri-ˈgres-iv 

: relating to, resulting from, producing, or characterized by regression

regressive behavior

regressive tissue changes