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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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for retrogress
Verb
  • If O'Connell were to revert back to the second-year quarterback as his starter, Minnesota would have McCarthy under center on the road against the Detroit Lions on November 2.
    Evan Massey, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Oct. 2025
  • Trump quickly reverted back to Boston, before taking one final question in the Oval Office.
    Melanie Anzidei, New York Times, 15 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Other big stories ➤ More than 350 residents from Marana and surrounding southern Arizona communities gathered to criticize Management and Training Corporation's refusal to communicate on whether a shuttered state prison will return as an ICE detention center.
    Arizona Republic, AZCentral.com, 26 Oct. 2025
  • Sanders has since been charged with intentionally abandoning a child younger than 15 without intent to return, a third-degree felony charge in Texas, according to court documents.
    Bailey Richards, PEOPLE, 26 Oct. 2025

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“Retrogress.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/retrogress. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.

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