regress

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regress

/ˈɹiːˌɡɹɛs/
/ɹɪˈɡɹɛs/

Rhymes with -ɛs

Where it comes from

(verb) From Latin regressus, past participle of regredior (“to go back”), from re- (“back”) + gradior (“to go”). Doublet of regressus.

noun regresses

countable, uncountable The act of passing back; passage back; return; retrogression. The key-hole was still their port of egress and regress, and it resembled the aperture of a bee-hive, on a sunny day in June.
countable, uncountable The power or liberty of passing back. Thou shalt have egresse and regresse.
countable, uncountable The right of a person (such as a lessee) to return to a property.

Similar: retrogress

verb regresses · regressing · regressed

intransitive To move backwards to an earlier stage; to devolve.
Similar: backslide, reconvert, deconvert, regress · Opposite: advance, proceed, progress
intransitive To re-develop behavior one had previously grown out of, particularly a behavior left behind in childhood. Your nightmares stopped when you were eight years old, but after the house burned down, you regressed.
Similar: backslide, reconvert, deconvert, regress · Opposite: advance, proceed, progress
intransitive To move in the retrograde direction.
intransitive To reduce in severity or size (as of a tumor), without reaching total remission.
transitive To perform a regression on an explanatory variable. When we regress Y on X, we use the values of variable X to predict those of Y.
transitive To interrogate a person in a state of trance about forgotten elements of their past. They regressed me, putting me under hypnosis. Then, through the hypnosis, they found out that our car was abducted right off the road and into a craft.

Thesaurus

noun

Similar: retrogress

Translations

Every language

verb to move backwards to an earlier stage

Español	retrogradar, retroceder
한국어	퇴보하다 toebohada
日本語	後退する kōtai suru, 退歩する taiho suru
中文	退步 tuìbù
हिन्दी	अवनति avanti
Português	regredir, retroceder
Français	régresser
Deutsch	sich zurückbilden
Italiano	regredire
Ελληνικά	υποστρέφω ypostréfo
Română	regresa
Русский	регресси́ровать regressírovatʹ

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MLA

"regress." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/regress. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

regress. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/regress

Chicago

"regress." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/regress.

BibTeX

@misc{regress_2026,
  title = {regress},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/regress},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}