retrogression
Return to worse
Retrogression is movement backward or return to an earlier, usually worse state.
The word appears in discussions of social policy, biological development, or any process that reverses course: The new regulations represent a retrogression in workers' rights.
It's more formal than backsliding and implies measurable decline rather than mere stagnation.
Reverting to former sins
- relapseReturn to former illness
- recidivismHabitual return to crime
- reversionReturn to former state
- retreatSanctuary or withdrawal
backtracking · return · throwback · rollback · undoing · recurrence · lapsing · recoil
Process of declining quality
- decayGradual organic breakdown
- worseningBecoming more severe
- downturnEconomic decline period
- slumpExtended period of decline
recession · downfall · degradation · decrease · diminution · weakening · ebbing · falloff
Gradual organic breakdown
- atrophyWasting from disuse
- deteriorationProcess of declining quality
- devolutionTransferring power locally
- decrepitudeWornness from age
disintegration · rot · wasting · corrosion · senescence · enfeeblement · debilitation · impairment
Sanctuary or withdrawal
- recedeMove back from
- backwardToward what's behind
- reverseTurn to opposite
- withdrawalAct of taking away
retracement · pullback · shrinkage · contraction · ebb · subsidence · recession · backpedaling
backsliding
Reverting to former sins
- relapseReturn to former illness
- recidivismHabitual return to crime
- reversionReturn to former state
retreat · backtracking · return · throwback · rollback · undoing · recurrence · lapsing · recoil · setback
deterioration
Process of declining quality
slump · recession · downfall · degradation · decrease · diminution · weakening · ebbing · falloff · waning
decay
Gradual organic breakdown
- atrophyWasting from disuse
- deteriorationProcess of declining quality
- devolutionTransferring power locally
decrepitude · disintegration · rot · wasting · corrosion · senescence · enfeeblement · debilitation · impairment · decomposition
retreat
Sanctuary or withdrawal
withdrawal · retracement · pullback · shrinkage · contraction · ebb · subsidence · recession · backpedaling
- going backwardsthrowback, relapse, backslide, reversal, retreat
- immigrationimmigrant, immigrants, visa, refugee, citizenship
- declinesdrop, decline, downtrend, downturn, downfall
- successionheir apparent, heir presumptive, line of succession, primogeniture, successor
- obsolescenceobsolescence, datedness, outmodedness, outmoding, supersession
retrogressionprogression
Sequential forward movement
progress · advance · advancement · evolution · development
retrogressionimprovement
Positive change in quality
betterment · amelioration · enhancement · upgrading · refinement