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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The track shouldn’t do that The problem was a new patch of tarmac that apparently wasn’t up to scratch and started deteriorating under the cars’ tires.—
Jonathan M. Gitlin,
ArsTechnica,
8 June 2026
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Yet many investors and strategists say foreign selling has less to do with deteriorating fundamentals and more to do with the market's own success.—
Sean Conlon,Joseph Wilkins,Tanaya Macheel,Lee Ying Shan,
CNBC,
7 June 2026
Verb
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Helicopters and troops descending upon the Puente Hills Mall rattled Palacios and her daughter, who live a block away from the shopping center.—
Joy Benedict,
CBS News,
6 June 2026
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The dashcam video shows the interior of the cab in the moments before and after the collision, as the driver appears to notice the rapidly descending plane just before impact.—
Thomas Tracy,
New York Daily News,
5 June 2026
Verb
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The attack in al-Murrah, near contested Barah, underscores RSF’s tightening hold over resource-rich Darfur and Kordofan and the worsening humanitarian crisis engulfing civilians.—
Fatma Khaled,
Los Angeles Times,
29 May 2026
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New pipelines and fossil fuel plants generate millions of dollars for fossil fuel companies and utilities, while locking young people into decades more of pollution and worsening climate change.—
Sydney Collins,
Hartford Courant,
28 May 2026
Verb
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Photos from the local information office in General Santos City, which has about 720,000 people, showed convenience stores and buildings crumbling in the aftermath of the quake.—
Kathleen Magramo,
CNN Money,
8 June 2026
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Those who work in Cuba’s crumbling tourism sector lamented Meliá’s announcement.—
Andrea Rodríguez,
Los Angeles Times,
4 June 2026
Verb
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Writers and reporters at the conference are learning how to improve their coverage of topics, including changes to education at the federal and state levels, the use of artificial intelligence in schools, and declining enrollment.—
Kellye Lynn,
CBS News,
4 June 2026
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As Hartford education officials work to mitigate a large budget deficit, a report from an outside firm The Connecticut State Department of Education hired to review Hartford Public Schools’ financials found that declining enrollment and decisions regarding salaries and hiring are to blame.—
Livi Stanford,
Hartford Courant,
4 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Retrograding.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/retrograding. Accessed 11 Jun. 2026.
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