adj
retarded
rih-TAH-dihd
adj
1
Slowed down or delayed in development.
"The plant's retarded growth was traced to poor soil quality."
How to Use Retarded
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishHeld back or slowed in its development.
When to use it
Once a clinical term for intellectual disability, this word is now considered a slur when applied to people and should never be used that way; the technical, non-human sense (slowed or delayed) survives in some specialist and older scientific writing but is increasingly avoided even there.
Word Forms
more retarded comparative, most retarded superlative
Study it as flashcards or scroll it in Flow — saved to your collection.
Test yourself on “retarded”
A quick quiz — meaning, synonyms & usage
→