as in to revert
to go back to a previous and usually lower state or level
the quality of research at the university lab has begun to retrogress since the massive budget cuts went into effect
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Recent Examples of retrogress
After the 1960s, after the switch in—the shift in the strategy to gaining political clout, a lot of those trends stalled, slowed, even retrogressed.
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WSJ, 3 July 2017
WSJ, 3 July 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for retrogress
Verb
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Even the president jumped in when the chain reverted back to its old logo.—
Ramishah Maruf,
CNN Money,
17 Sep. 2025
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Aurora made several driverless runs earlier this year before reverting back to safety driver operations at the request of their truck manufacturer partner; the company’s status as a driverless operation is somewhat murky.—
Richard Bishop,
Forbes.com,
16 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The content drew attention to the country’s inequality by contrasting the lives of the children of the country’s elite – with designer clothing and foreign vacations – with images of Nepali migrant workers returning home in coffins from dangerous jobs abroad.—
Nir Kshetri,
The Conversation,
14 Sep. 2025
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With 15 games remaining, Smith may not have enough time to rehab the injury and return for the end of the regular season.—
Justice delos Santos,
Mercury News,
14 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Retrogress.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/retrogress. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.
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