1
: the act or an instance of backsliding, worsening, or subsiding
2
: a recurrence of symptoms of a disease after a period of improvement
relapsed; relapsing
1
: to slip or fall back into a former worse state
relapser
noun
Examples of relapse in a Sentence
Noun
Everyone thought she was well until a sudden relapse sent her back to the hospital.
a drug addict who has had a relapse
a drug addict who has a history of relapse
Verb
If you don't continue your treatment, you could relapse.
Malaria can relapse years after the original infection.
The country soon relapsed into chaos.
She stayed out of trouble for a long time, but then she relapsed into her old ways.
Recent Examples on the Web
Olivia Evans, The Courier-Journal, 4 Apr. 2024
At the time of the relapse, Applegate's symptoms were also affecting her ability to sleep.
—Ingrid Vasquez, Peoplemag, 2 Apr. 2024
This then leads to incredibly dangerous relapses and entraps people in harmful cycles of treatment, often for years at a time.
—Hannah Dylan Pasternak, SELF, 25 Mar. 2024
His future, however, would come to hinge on a choice that didn’t feel like much of a choice at all: get off the medication that protected him from relapse and attend abstinence-only treatment, or lose his chance to become a lawyer.
—Josh Feldman, NBC News, 4 Mar. 2024
Saturday Night Live guest host Sydney Sweeney played Tina, a Hooters waitress who easily out-earned her coworkers despite spilling beer on customers and making an alcoholic relapse.
—William Vaillancourt, Rolling Stone, 3 Mar. 2024
There’s symptom management, hopeful periods of remission often followed by relapses, but rarely a lasting fix for the way their immune system attacks healthy cells.
—Theresa Gaffney, STAT, 21 Feb. 2024
This goal stemmed from the desire to prevent the alarming spike in relapses exacerbated by global turmoil.
—Tyler Shepherd, USA TODAY, 28 Jan. 2024
New research is stirring interest in ibogaine, which appears to help ease the agony of detox and prevent relapse.
—Andrew Jacobs, New York Times, 5 Mar. 2024
Maggie Slepian, Longreads, 2 Apr. 2024
Some had burned too many bridges back home, and stories of people relapsing also made some afraid to leave.
—Olivia B. Waxman, TIME, 1 Apr. 2024
That led her to get an MRI, which resulted in her diagnosis of relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 1 Mar. 2024
In a brief hearing Monday, prosecutors strongly objected to letting Richardson out of jail, saying in court filings that even after baby Winter’s death, Richardson bailed on a drug treatment program and relapsed.
—Scooty Nickerson, The Mercury News, 18 Mar. 2024
Patients with lupus did not relapse after having the treatment during the two-year follow-up period.
—Korin Miller, Verywell Health, 28 Feb. 2024
The Warriors built an 18-point lead to start the fourth quarter, but the defense relapsed into its worst habits — over-helping off the corner to allow open 3-pointers in the corner.
—Shayna Rubin, The Mercury News, 16 Feb. 2024
Yet many addiction providers will expel clients for relapsing.
—Laura Newberry, Los Angeles Times, 26 Sep. 2023
That’s why this war terrifies me so much — the fear of relapsing into my old identity crisis.
—Amir Sommer, Twin Cities, 11 Jan. 2024
Noun
Following his relapse Aiden was also diagnosed with Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia, a lung disorder.
—Olivia Evans, The Courier-Journal, 4 Apr. 2024
At the time of the relapse, Applegate's symptoms were also affecting her ability to sleep.
—Ingrid Vasquez, Peoplemag, 2 Apr. 2024
This then leads to incredibly dangerous relapses and entraps people in harmful cycles of treatment, often for years at a time.
—Hannah Dylan Pasternak, SELF, 25 Mar. 2024
His future, however, would come to hinge on a choice that didn’t feel like much of a choice at all: get off the medication that protected him from relapse and attend abstinence-only treatment, or lose his chance to become a lawyer.
—Josh Feldman, NBC News, 4 Mar. 2024
Saturday Night Live guest host Sydney Sweeney played Tina, a Hooters waitress who easily out-earned her coworkers despite spilling beer on customers and making an alcoholic relapse.
—William Vaillancourt, Rolling Stone, 3 Mar. 2024
There’s symptom management, hopeful periods of remission often followed by relapses, but rarely a lasting fix for the way their immune system attacks healthy cells.
—Theresa Gaffney, STAT, 21 Feb. 2024
This goal stemmed from the desire to prevent the alarming spike in relapses exacerbated by global turmoil.
—Tyler Shepherd, USA TODAY, 28 Jan. 2024
New research is stirring interest in ibogaine, which appears to help ease the agony of detox and prevent relapse.
—Andrew Jacobs, New York Times, 5 Mar. 2024
Verb
His cancer had just relapsed; my family was already suffering.
—Maggie Slepian, Longreads, 2 Apr. 2024
Some had burned too many bridges back home, and stories of people relapsing also made some afraid to leave.
—Olivia B. Waxman, TIME, 1 Apr. 2024
That led her to get an MRI, which resulted in her diagnosis of relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 1 Mar. 2024
In a brief hearing Monday, prosecutors strongly objected to letting Richardson out of jail, saying in court filings that even after baby Winter’s death, Richardson bailed on a drug treatment program and relapsed.
—Scooty Nickerson, The Mercury News, 18 Mar. 2024
Patients with lupus did not relapse after having the treatment during the two-year follow-up period.
—Korin Miller, Verywell Health, 28 Feb. 2024
The Warriors built an 18-point lead to start the fourth quarter, but the defense relapsed into its worst habits — over-helping off the corner to allow open 3-pointers in the corner.
—Shayna Rubin, The Mercury News, 16 Feb. 2024
Yet many addiction providers will expel clients for relapsing.
—Laura Newberry, Los Angeles Times, 26 Sep. 2023
That’s why this war terrifies me so much — the fear of relapsing into my old identity crisis.
—Amir Sommer, Twin Cities, 11 Jan. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'relapse.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near relapse
Cite this Entry
“Relapse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/relapse. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
Medical Definition
: a recurrence of illness
especially
: a recurrence of symptoms of a disease after a period of improvement
a relapse after an 18-month remission —M. T. Fosburg et al.
compare recrudescence
M. T. Fosburg et al. relapse
2 of 2 intransitive verb
re·lapse
ri-ˈlaps 
relapsed; relapsing
: to slip or fall back into a former worse state (as of illness) after a change for the better
the patient relapsed twice in four years
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