1
: the act or an instance of backsliding, worsening, or subsiding
2
: a recurrence of symptoms of a disease after a period of improvement
relapsed; relapsing
1
: to slip or fall back into a former worse state
relapser
noun
Examples of relapse in a Sentence
Noun
Everyone thought she was well until a sudden relapse sent her back to the hospital.
a drug addict who has had a relapse
a drug addict who has a history of relapse
Verb
If you don't continue your treatment, you could relapse.
Malaria can relapse years after the original infection.
The country soon relapsed into chaos.
She stayed out of trouble for a long time, but then she relapsed into her old ways.
Recent Examples on the Web
Alecia Taylor, Kansas City Star, 6 Mar. 2025
Financial Upside: About 70% of patients remain sober at the 12-month mark after completion, allowing patients to keep their earnings in-tact and avoid potential expenses associated with relapse.
—Jaime Catmull, Forbes, 4 Mar. 2025
Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 11 Feb. 2025
Patients have relapsed into alcohol or drug use, become violent or died after prematurely leaving mental health facilities.
—Duaa Eldeib, ProPublica, 30 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for relapse
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Noun
Peer support staff for people in jail, housing, and transportation assistance to try to reduce relapses.
—Alecia Taylor, Kansas City Star, 6 Mar. 2025
Financial Upside: About 70% of patients remain sober at the 12-month mark after completion, allowing patients to keep their earnings in-tact and avoid potential expenses associated with relapse.
—Jaime Catmull, Forbes, 4 Mar. 2025
Verb
Over the next year, the singer briefly entered a rehab facility in Spain, without completing the treatment, and was hospitalized in April 2024 after relapsing again, reportedly requiring hospital staff to resuscitate him to save his life.
—Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 11 Feb. 2025
Patients have relapsed into alcohol or drug use, become violent or died after prematurely leaving mental health facilities.
—Duaa Eldeib, ProPublica, 30 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for relapse
Cite this Entry
“Relapse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/relapse. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.
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Medical Definition
: a recurrence of illness
especially
: a recurrence of symptoms of a disease after a period of improvement
a relapse after an 18-month remission —M. T. Fosburg et al.
compare recrudescence
M. T. Fosburg et al. relapse
2 of 2 intransitive verb
re·lapse
ri-ˈlaps 
relapsed; relapsing
: to slip or fall back into a former worse state (as of illness) after a change for the better
the patient relapsed twice in four years
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