regress

1. 1.

   the reasoning involved when you assume the conclusion is true and reason backward to the evidence

   Synonymsreasoning backward

   Broaderreasoning
2. 2.

   returning to a former state

   Synonymsregressionreversionretrogressionretroversion

   Broaderreversal

Other forms of regress

plural

regresses·

past tense

regressed·

present participle

regressing·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about regress

What does regress mean?

regress means "go back to a statistical means". That is the primary sense; the word has 6 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in regress?

regress has 2 syllables: re-gress. The stress falls on "re". In IPA it is /ˈɹiɡɹɛs/.

What is another word for regress?

Close synonyms include revert, return, retrovert, turn back, retrograde. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

What is the opposite of regress?

The recorded antonyms are progress.

Is regress a common word?

regress is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.