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.
—
WSJ, 3 July 2017
WSJ, 3 July 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for retrogress
Verb
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That move is historically overextended and is likely to revert closer to the mean.—
Jay Woods,
CNBC,
16 Dec. 2025
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But Reiner said Shearer eventually realized that the movie’s stars hadn’t actually made that much money from the movie, and Shearer eventually got the rights to revert back to the creators.—
Victoria Edel,
PEOPLE,
15 Dec. 2025
Verb
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Barton will have to wait another month to receive his sentence for the six guilty counts the jury returned on charges of sending a grossly offensive electronic communication with intent to cause distress or anxiety to football broadcasters Eni Aluko and Lucy Ward, and TV and radio host Jeremy Vine.—
Greg O'Keeffe,
New York Times,
9 Nov. 2025
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Thomas returned the ball 10 yards to the Syracuse 23-yard line.—
Jordan McPherson,
Miami Herald,
9 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Retrogress.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/retrogress. Accessed 11 Jan. 2026.
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