as in deteriorating
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 retrograding
Among these were melodic concepts like inversion (flipping a tune), transposition (shifting it up or down scales), retrograding (reversal), and translation (movement over time).
—
Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 19 Feb. 2026
Mercury retrograding back into Scorpio wants to get to the bottom of your contracts.
—Usa Today, USA Today, 18 Nov. 2025
And then comes the 11/11 portal, where Jupiter begins retrograding in Cancer, your sector of home, family, and emotional roots.
—Dossé-Via Trenou, Refinery29, 9 Nov. 2025
Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 19 Feb. 2026
Mercury retrograding back into Scorpio wants to get to the bottom of your contracts.
—Usa Today, USA Today, 18 Nov. 2025
And then comes the 11/11 portal, where Jupiter begins retrograding in Cancer, your sector of home, family, and emotional roots.
—Dossé-Via Trenou, Refinery29, 9 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for retrograding
Verb
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Now the war has turned into a race to stabilize the rapidly deteriorating global economic order, central to which is reopening the Strait of Hormuz.—
Sudarsan Raghavan,
New Yorker,
25 Mar. 2026
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Her mother, Maria Alejandra, had told me in long, vivid emails about some of more serious concerns about her and her daughter’s deteriorating mental and physical health during their prolonged detention.—
Mica Rosenberg,
ProPublica,
24 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The department is sharing clips of recent incidents stemming from spring break chaos, earning hundreds of thousands of views as officials throughout the Sunshine State grapple with another year of college students descending on their city’s beaches.—
Julia Bonavita,
FOXNews.com,
18 Mar. 2026
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At the Mayan site Chichen Itza in Mexico, people gather during the equinox to watch the sun create a shadow pattern that resembles a serpent descending a pyramid called El Castillo.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
16 Mar. 2026
Verb
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But lower rates risk worsening inflation.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
21 Mar. 2026
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The worsening situation also has sparked small protests.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
19 Mar. 2026
Verb
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However, as the show begins, the family’s pristine facade is just on the verge of crumbling.—
Aramide Tinubu,
Variety,
22 Mar. 2026
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The foundations are crumbling Congress is likely to continue to reduce benefits associated with both Social Security and Medicare.—
Elliot Raphaelson,
The Orlando Sentinel,
21 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Haithcock said schools have been financially hamstrung since Act 10 – the Scott Walker-era landmark law in 2011 that curtailed union bargaining power and cut take-home pay for workers – especially amid declining student enrollment.—
Natalie Eilbert,
jsonline.com,
19 Mar. 2026
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While an unconventional choice for the typically squeaky-clean Bachelor franchise, a soft-swinging TikTok influencer turned reality star at first sounded like the 180 the franchise desperately needed after years of declining ratings and a seemingly outdated format amid modern dating culture.—
Jodi Guglielmi,
Rolling Stone,
19 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Retrograding.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/retrograding. Accessed 25 Mar. 2026.
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