Retrogressive

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Moving backward or returning to an earlier, often less developed or less advanced state or condition
2. Characterized by a reversal or decline into a prior, often less favorable, state of development or progress
3. Involving a regression to an earlier stage that typically signifies a decrease in complexity or advancement

Etymology: "Retrogressive" is built from the Latin prefix "retro-", meaning "backward," and "gradi," "to step or walk," the same root that gives English "progress" (from "progredi," to go forward). Its core is therefore a literal picture of walking in reverse, and the "progress" it opposes sits right beside it in the family of words. The adjective is a formation in the Latin-to-English pattern, built from "retrogressus," the past participle of "retrogradi," which also gave English "retrograde." Like many such words, it reflects a need for a precise term in discussions of movement, astronomy and later biology and economics, where "going back" had to be described without the vaguer phrasing of everyday speech. The suffix "-ive" simply turns the verb idea into a descriptive adjective. The word's usage has been strongly shaped by the idea of progress itself. Once societies and sciences began thinking in terms of advancement, a word meaning the reverse became useful for describing stages of decline, from policies that reverse earlier reforms to evolutionary or developmental regression. Its meaning rests less on the literal act of stepping backward and more on measuring a state against an assumed forward direction.

Synonyms: regressive, backward, declining

Antonyms: progressive, advancing, forward