regress

1 of 2

noun

re·​gress ˈrē-ˌgres How to pronounce regress (audio)
1
a
: an act or the privilege of going or coming back
2
: movement backward to a previous and especially worse or more primitive state or condition
3
: the act of reasoning backward

regress

2 of 2

verb

re·​gress ri-ˈgres How to pronounce regress (audio)
regressed; regressing; regresses

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
regressor noun

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
Last year, then-coach Brandon Staley brought in a new offensive coordinator in Kellen Moore with designs of improving the ground game, only for the rushing attack to regress. Dylan Hernández, Los Angeles Times, 22 July 2024 The Orioles’ rotation began to regress in June, losing Kyle Bradish, Danny Coulombe and others to injury. Jacob Calvin Meyer, Baltimore Sun, 1 July 2024
Verb
Its high 2024 grounder park factor of 116.9 pumped up offense a bit - at this point, that seems like an outlier that should regress to the mean going forward. Tony Blengino, Forbes, 11 Oct. 2024 Based on data collected using FanGraphs, Torres is a defensive liability and has regressed since demonstrating signs of improvement during the 2022 season. Wayne G. McDonnell, Jr., Forbes, 5 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for regress 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'regress.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

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

First Known Use

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

circa 1522, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of regress was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near regress

Cite this Entry

“Regress.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/regress. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

regress

verb
re·​gress
ri-ˈgres
: to go or cause to go back especially to a previous level or condition

Medical Definition

regress

intransitive verb
re·​gress ri-ˈgres How to pronounce regress (audio)
: 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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