slips back
Returns to before
To slip back is to return to a previous, usually worse, condition or behavior after a period of improvement.
Someone recovering from addiction may slip back into old habits.
A patient may slip back after showing progress.
The phrase suggests gradual or unintentional regression rather than deliberate retreat: She'd been doing well, but slipped back after the holidays.
- stumbleLose footing momentarily
- slideSmooth continuous movement
- skidUncontrolled lateral slide
- relapseReturn to former illness
- revertReturn to earlier condition
bad habits · retreat · trip · regression · lose ground · sink · falter · undoing · recoil · dip · hesitate · waver · give way · wobble · erode · drift · sobriety · slick
directional movement
slips backmoves forward
Progresses in direction faced
advances · progresses · pushes forward · forges ahead · improves
slip, slips, slipped, slipping, slipper, slippers, slippage, slippery, back