as in deteriorates
to become worse or of less value
the Dark Ages, the period following the fall of the Roman Empire when Western civilization seriously retrograded
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Recent Examples of retrogrades
Then comes 11/11, the astro-numerological portal, and with it, Jupiter retrogrades into Cancer, your sector of wellness, service, and daily rituals.
—
Dossé-Via Trenou, Refinery29, 9 Nov. 2025
Dossé-Via Trenou, Refinery29, 9 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for retrogrades
Verb
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Hospitals use the same billing codes for the ER visit, whether a patient’s condition deteriorates or not.—
Andrew Jones,
Miami Herald,
28 Apr. 2026
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Her condition rapidly deteriorates to the point where Abbott and Robby are forced to do a C-Section in the ER, with seconds to spare to save her life and the life of the baby.—
Kelly Lawler,
USA Today,
17 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Ultimately the interference can lead to flight disruptions and delays as confusion descends on the nerve center of a plane.—
Katie Hunt,
CNN Money,
28 Apr. 2026
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His reality descends in a nightmare as the images seen in the zoetrope manifest in his apartment.—
Richard Newby,
HollywoodReporter,
27 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Symptoms of pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough, resemble a cold, with a cough that usually worsens over weeks and can cause gasping, vomiting and difficulty breathing, the Pasadena Public Health Department said in a statement announcing the outbreak.—
Fedor Zarkhin,
Los Angeles Times,
30 Apr. 2026
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Early symptoms resemble a cold with a cough that normally worsens over one to two weeks.—
Matthew Rodriguez,
CBS News,
30 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The book club always politely declines, given its specific chemistry.—
Maddie Connors,
Los Angeles Times,
4 May 2026
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Interest rates don't tell the full story One supposed silver-lining in the economy of 2026 that consumers had been hopeful was still ahead is a lower-rate environment as inflation declines, but the war and the surge in oil prices has upended the policymaking assumptions of central banks.—
Kevin Williams,
CNBC,
2 May 2026
Verb
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Like the impish anti-romance that crumbles around it, the movie’s twist is both transgressive enough to be pleased with itself and also rooted in a reality that refuses to be dismissed as a bad joke.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
31 Mar. 2026
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Loyalty, betrayal, illness and war all bear down on the group as the old order crumbles around them.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
25 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Volume 1 about a troubled pregnant woman who accepts an invite to a dinner party which degenerates into a bloody and demented nightmare.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
28 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Retrogrades.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/retrogrades. Accessed 8 May. 2026.
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