regress
Other forms: regressed; regressing; regresses
To regress is to return to a former state or condition, and not usually in a good way. It often means "relapse" or "get worse."
First used in the late 14th century as a noun meaning "act of going back," regress originates from the Latin regress, meaning "a return." Many feel that the regress to anti-social behavior among teenagers is caused by violent video games, TV shows, and movies. A 30 year old forced to move back home may regress to old, childlike habits. It can also happen to someone's health, like when the condition of someone in recovery takes a turn for the worse.
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go back to a previous statetypes:resilereturn to the original position or state after being stretched or compressedtype of:
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get worse or fall back to a previous conditionsynonyms: retrograde, retrogress
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go back to bad behaviorsynonyms: fall back, lapse, recidivate, relapse, retrogress
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go back to a statistical meanstype of:changeundergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature
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returning to a former statesynonyms: regression, retrogression, retroversion, reversiontype of:reversala change from one state to the opposite state
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the reasoning involved when you assume the conclusion is true and reason backward to the evidencesynonyms: reasoning backward
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Vocabulary lists containing regress
Don't let your vocabulary skills yo-yo! National Yo-Yo Day is June 6th, so after you practice your "walk-the-dog," learn these terms related to the metaphor "yo-yo" — having a tendency to make progress, only to regress shortly after. Check out the full article: Yay for Yo-Yo Day!
Just as "history is written by the winners," the historical record often skips over missteps or mistakes made by those same winners. The Articles of Confederation were the founding fathers' first attempt at establishing an central alliance of all the different states in 1777. Although a valiant effort, the provisions laid down in this document didn't quite work the way the writers wanted them to, and they soon realized they had to start again with a new document. That second try is known as The Constitution, and it endures to this day. Here are 43 vocabulary words from The Articles of Confederation. The entire document is available here.