as in to revert
to go back to a previous and usually lower state or level
the quality of research at the university lab has begun to retrogress since the massive budget cuts went into effect
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Recent Examples of retrogress
After the 1960s, after the switch in—the shift in the strategy to gaining political clout, a lot of those trends stalled, slowed, even retrogressed.
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WSJ, 3 July 2017
WSJ, 3 July 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for retrogress
Verb
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Both books sold modestly, and eventually Viking let the rights revert.—
Paul Slovak
September 8,
Literary Hub,
8 Sep. 2025
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One dares to hope that Hollywood, for all its current ills, may finally be turning a corner, reverting back to when new ideas were held at a premium.—
Richard Lawson,
HollywoodReporter,
8 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The content drew attention to the country’s inequality by contrasting the lives of the children of the country’s elite – with designer clothing and foreign vacations – with images of Nepali migrant workers returning home in coffins from dangerous jobs abroad.—
Nir Kshetri,
The Conversation,
14 Sep. 2025
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With 15 games remaining, Smith may not have enough time to rehab the injury and return for the end of the regular season.—
Justice delos Santos,
Mercury News,
14 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Retrogress.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/retrogress. Accessed 14 Sep. 2025.
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