as in reversion
the act or an instance of going back to an earlier and lower level especially of intelligence or behavior
social instability that has led to a retrogression of moral values and standards of decent behavior
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Recent Examples of retrogression
Visa retrogression might become more of an issue for Indian and Chinese applicants who invest under the high-unemployment category due to its more limited availability.
—
Sam Silverman, Forbes, 7 Mar. 2025
Does the Senate really want to put in office a secretary with zero medical training, who believes in raw milk and not in the extraordinary benefits of vaccinations, without asking him about such retrogression?
—Arthur House, Hartford Courant, 22 Nov. 2024
In another 5-to-4 decision, Justice O’Connor wrote an opinion that would significantly alter the initial retrogression standard established in Beer v. United States.
—Nick Corasaniti, New York Times, 21 Nov. 2023
Progressives de nos jours seem inordinately attached to retrogression.
—Kyle Smith, National Review, 8 June 2021
What explains the wide perception of racial retrogression at a time when surveys show that racial attitudes and behaviors have never been better?
—Jason L. Riley, WSJ, 27 Apr. 2021
For Fantom, his card showed nines of 40 and 39 for his 79, but his win wasn’t official until through retrogression, his score on the eighth handicap hole, was a stroke better better than that of Patterson Mill’s Brandon Palen, who also shot 79.
—Randy McRoberts, baltimoresun.com, 24 Oct. 2020
This duplicity is, as the museum called it, part of the American paradox: a museum that represents both stagnancy and change, advancement and retrogression, black America and the rest.
—Maya Phillips, The New Yorker, 24 Oct. 2019
Such were the devolutions and betrayals in those days, and retrogressions to the ways of shame.
—Lance Morrow, WSJ, 4 Oct. 2018
Sam Silverman, Forbes, 7 Mar. 2025
Does the Senate really want to put in office a secretary with zero medical training, who believes in raw milk and not in the extraordinary benefits of vaccinations, without asking him about such retrogression?
—Arthur House, Hartford Courant, 22 Nov. 2024
In another 5-to-4 decision, Justice O’Connor wrote an opinion that would significantly alter the initial retrogression standard established in Beer v. United States.
—Nick Corasaniti, New York Times, 21 Nov. 2023
Progressives de nos jours seem inordinately attached to retrogression.
—Kyle Smith, National Review, 8 June 2021
What explains the wide perception of racial retrogression at a time when surveys show that racial attitudes and behaviors have never been better?
—Jason L. Riley, WSJ, 27 Apr. 2021
For Fantom, his card showed nines of 40 and 39 for his 79, but his win wasn’t official until through retrogression, his score on the eighth handicap hole, was a stroke better better than that of Patterson Mill’s Brandon Palen, who also shot 79.
—Randy McRoberts, baltimoresun.com, 24 Oct. 2020
This duplicity is, as the museum called it, part of the American paradox: a museum that represents both stagnancy and change, advancement and retrogression, black America and the rest.
—Maya Phillips, The New Yorker, 24 Oct. 2019
Such were the devolutions and betrayals in those days, and retrogressions to the ways of shame.
—Lance Morrow, WSJ, 4 Oct. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for retrogression
Noun
-
If conditions fail, penalties or reversions execute without legal intervention.—
Sean Lee,
Forbes.com,
5 June 2025
-
Society, in fact, needed to continue slavery for the interests of both Black and White since unshackling enslaved people would spark the race’s reversion to barbarism, imperiling White society.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 June 2025
Noun
-
After living under a state government often characterized by inaction, regression or outright hostility to such progressive values, California’s governance is a relative model of responsiveness and foresight.—
DeAndre Evans,
Mercury News,
25 June 2025
-
Boyle has noted in numerous interviews, including this chat with Kermode and Mayo, that one of the things that fascinated him about the quarantine zone of 28 Years Later was the potential for a kind of cultural regression.—
Randall Colburn,
EW.com,
23 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Retrogression.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/retrogression. Accessed 13 Jul. 2025.
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