as in deteriorating
to become worse or of less value
the Dark Ages, the period following the fall of the Roman Empire when Western civilization seriously retrograded
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Recent Examples of retrograding
Among these were melodic concepts like inversion (flipping a tune), transposition (shifting it up or down scales), retrograding (reversal), and translation (movement over time).
—
Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 19 Feb. 2026
Mercury retrograding back into Scorpio wants to get to the bottom of your contracts.
—Usa Today, USA Today, 18 Nov. 2025
And then comes the 11/11 portal, where Jupiter begins retrograding in Cancer, your sector of home, family, and emotional roots.
—Dossé-Via Trenou, Refinery29, 9 Nov. 2025
Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 19 Feb. 2026
Mercury retrograding back into Scorpio wants to get to the bottom of your contracts.
—Usa Today, USA Today, 18 Nov. 2025
And then comes the 11/11 portal, where Jupiter begins retrograding in Cancer, your sector of home, family, and emotional roots.
—Dossé-Via Trenou, Refinery29, 9 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for retrograding
Verb
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Her family has said that her health had been deteriorating in prison, in part because she was heavily beaten during her arrest.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
18 May 2026
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Giuliani's doctor, Maria Ryan, told Fox News correspondent Danamarie McNicholl that the former mayor began feeling ill after returning from a trip to Paris, with his breathing deteriorating to the point that he was placed on a ventilator.—
Angelica Stabile,
FOXNews.com,
16 May 2026
Verb
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The steeply descending main street of Haworth is filled with tea shops, pubs and stores clearly dedicated to pleasing Brontë pilgrims, but its basic form, including the original stationery store where the sisters once bought their paper, remains the same.—
Culture Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
14 May 2026
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Case in point is the Haryma necklace, where yellow and orange diamonds come to play with garnets and white diamonds to create a shading effect on the necklace and figurative tiger descending a staircase arrangement supported by five imperial topazes, totaling just over 28 carats.—
Lily Templeton,
Footwear News,
13 May 2026
Verb
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Higher yields boost interest costs, which are running at $1 trillion a year, worsening the budget deficit and adding even more to the total debt burden.—
Jason Ma,
Fortune,
15 May 2026
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Samsung has warned that the AI boom is worsening chip shortages and creating headwinds for its own smartphone and display units.—
Ron Schmelzer,
Forbes.com,
15 May 2026
Verb
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The mounting costs of Putin’s war on Ukraine have contributed to the nation’s shift, as Russians grapple with higher inflation, more taxes, crumbling infrastructure, tighter censorship, and myriad new restrictions.—
Jason Ma,
Fortune,
16 May 2026
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The final sentence feels apt given that Starmer’s Labour administration is crumbling.—
Max Goldbart,
Deadline,
15 May 2026
Verb
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Black Bear officials cited the program's declining participation rates and finances as the reason.—
Kenny Jacoby,
USA Today,
14 May 2026
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Sadly, bat populations are declining rapidly in North America.—
The Conversation,
Fortune,
14 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Retrograding.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/retrograding. Accessed 21 May. 2026.
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