verb
regress
REE-grehs
verb
1
To move backward to an earlier, less developed stage.
"Under stress, some adults regress and start acting childishly."
"The patient's condition seemed to regress after the treatment stopped."
noun
1
A return or movement back to an earlier state.
"Doctors were alarmed by the regress in her recovery."
How to Use Regress
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishTo go backward or fall back to how things were before, instead of moving forward.
Easily confused with
recess →
regrets
Word Forms
regressed past tense, regresses plural, regresses singular
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Etymology
From Latin regressus, past participle of regredior, "to go back" (re- + gradior, "to step, go").