Definition of REGRESS

an act or the privilege of going or coming back; reentry… See the full definition

regress


noun


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re·​gress


|



ˈrē-ˌgres


Definition of

regress

(Entry 1 of 2)


1


a



:

an act or the privilege of going or coming back


b


:



reentry


sense 1


2



:

movement backward to a previous and especially worse or more primitive state or condition


3



:

the act of reasoning backward

regress


verb


re·​gress


|



ri-ˈgres



regressed


;


regressing


;


regresses

Definition of

regress

(Entry 2 of 2)


intransitive verb


1


a



:

to make or undergo regress

:



retrograde



b



:

to be subject to or exhibit

regression


2



:

to tend to approach or revert to a mean


transitive verb



:

to induce a state of psychological regression in

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Other Words from

regress

Verb


regressor


ri-​ˈgre-​sər



noun

Synonyms & Antonyms for

regress

Synonyms: Verb


retrogress

,


return

,


revert

Antonyms: Verb


advance

,


develop

,


evolve

,


progress


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Did You Know?

As you might guess,

regress

is the opposite of

progress

. So if a disease regresses, that’s generally a good thing, but in most other ways we prefer not to regress. If someone’s mental state has been improving, we hope that person won’t start to regress; and when a nation’s promising educational system begins to regress, that’s a bad sign for the country’s future. Economists often distinguish between a

progressive

tax and a

regressive

tax; in a progressive tax, the percentage that goes to taxes gets larger as the amount of money being taxed gets larger, while in a regressive tax the percentage gets smaller.

Examples of

regress

in a Sentence


Verb


The patient is

regressing

to a childlike state.


in extreme circumstances, people sometimes

regress

to the behavior they exhibited in childhood


Recent Examples on the Web: Noun


Logan continued to receive a partial school day for years as Pearson watched him

regress

.




Sarah Butrymowicz,

USA TODAY

, “‘My kid matters, too’: Parents ask why students in special education programs are sent home early,” 25 Mar. 2021


As this shift to e-commerce kicks off, grocery chains are also continuing to evolve loyalty and retention programs with an eye on a future that may see sales

regress

to pre-pandemic levels.




Jonathan Treiber,

Forbes

, “Is The Grocery Industry Doomed To Make The Mistakes Of The Past?,” 17 Mar. 2021


Put that with a defense that finished first in the NFL in turnovers created (29), and sixth overall in points allowed last season, and the Dolphins should be a force in 2021 if the defense doesn’t

regress

, which is possible.




Omar Kelly,

sun-sentinel.com

, “Kelly: Acquiring Deshaun Watson wouldn’t prevent Dolphins from continuing to build | Commentary,” 24 Feb. 2021


Los Angeles is forking over eye-popping compensation, but coach Sean McVay and general manager Les Snead had publicly signaled their dissatisfaction with Goff, who has appeared to

regress

since signing that $134 million contract in September 2019.




Mike Jones,

USA TODAY

, “Analysis: Rams fork over a lot to the Lions for Matt Stafford, but it’s clear LA was disappointed with Jared Goff,” 31 Jan. 2021


How did Oregon, a top 15 defense in most every statistic a year ago but particularly stout against the run and at creating negative plays,

regress

so far so fast?





oregonlive

, “Will going ‘back to the blueprint’ fix Oregon Ducks’ porous run defense before facing Cal?,” 30 Nov. 2020


The former Cardinals head coach and Steelers offensive coordinator has seen his offense

regress

compared with the rest of the league since adding Brady.





Star Tribune

, “Scouting report: Vikings at Tampa Bay,” 10 Dec. 2020


Turning the clock back would be social

regress

, not reform.




Richard Morrison,

National Review

, “Biden Brain Trust: Forget the Billionaires, Guillotine the Corporations,” 23 Nov. 2020


Stafford plays well in a tough spot and gets the Lions shockingly above .500 while the Colts

regress

more to the mean.




Scott Horner,

The Indianapolis Star

, “NFL Week 8 picks: Colts have a small edge on the Lions,” 30 Oct. 2020


Recent Examples on the Web: Verb


Also, those scary COVID color tiers have finally begun to

regress

all over California from purple to red to orange, and vaccine-shot selfies are filling my feeds.




Christian Reynoso,

San Francisco Chronicle

, “Have a taste of spring with this bright, herbaceous pork shoulder,” 2 Apr. 2021


Kids who do feel unsafe might begin to

regress

, exhibiting poor sleep or eating patterns, nightmares, or clinginess.





BostonGlobe.com

, “How to talk to kids about gun violence,” 26 Mar. 2021


If a reckoning is postponed, American conservatism will continue to

regress

.




Garry Kasparov,

WSJ

, “The GOP Hit Rock Bottom. Can Conservatives Recover?,” 21 Jan. 2021


The Browns went 4-6 after the bye, and Mayfield continued to

regress

, ultimately finishing second-last in the NFL with a 78.8 rating, and with 21 interceptions for second-most in the NFL.





cleveland

, “Drew Stanton: Where it went wrong for Baker Mayfield and Freddie Kitchens and why it’s great for the QB now,” 20 Dec. 2020


The 4-year-old posted a decisive win in an optional-claimer at Ellis Park in August while making his first start for trainer Brad Cox but seemed to

regress

at Pimlico.




Wire Services,

NOLA.com

, “Fair Grounds is back! Bobby’s Wicked One back to defend Thanksgiving Classic title,” 24 Nov. 2020


The shot-making on offense should be a drastic improvement from the last two seasons, but the defense can’t afford to

regress

even after losing two high-level defenders like Naji Marshall and Jones.




Adam Baum,

The Enquirer

, “Xavier basketball: 5 questions facing the Musketeers in the 2020-21 season,” 19 Nov. 2020


Counties used to

regress

only if their metrics fell in the range of a more restrictive tier for two straight weeks.




Luke Money,

Los Angeles Times

, “California dramatically rolls back reopening amid unprecedented COVID-19 surge,” 16 Nov. 2020


But with fewer games and some easy matchups, Fields’ numbers won’t

regress

too far.




Christopher Smith,

al

, “Why Mac Jones’ Heisman chances may shrink,” 9 Nov. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word ‘regress.’ Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors.

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First Known Use of

regress

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at

sense 1a

Verb

circa 1522, in the meaning defined at

intransitive sense 1a

History and Etymology for

regress

Noun

Middle English

regresse

, from Anglo-French, from Latin

regressus

, from

regredi

to go back, from

re-

+

gradi

to go — more at

grade

entry

1

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Learn More about

regress

Dictionary Entries near

regress


regreen


regreet


regreets


regress


regression


regression analysis


regression coefficient


See More Nearby Entries

Statistics for

regress

Last Updated

1 Apr 2021


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Cite this Entry

“Regress.”

Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary

, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/regress. Accessed 30 Apr. 2021.

Style:

MLA


MLA



Chicago



APA



Merriam-Webster

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More Definitions for

regress

regress



verb

English Language Learners Definition of

regress


technical



:

to return to an earlier and usually worse or less developed condition or state


See the full definition for

regress

in the English Language Learners Dictionary

regress


intransitive verb


re·​gress


|



ri-ˈgres


Medical Definition of

regress



:

to undergo or exhibit

regression


a

regressing

lesion


transitive verb



:

to induce a state of psychological regression in



regress

a hypnotized subject

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regress

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All synonyms and antonyms for

regress

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Translation of

regress

for Spanish Speakers

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Translation of

regress

for Arabic Speakers

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regress

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