retrograde

Meaning

Adj

1. Directed or moving backwards in relation to the normal or previous direction of travel; retreating.
2. Reverting to an inferior or less developed state; declining, regressing.
3. Reverting to an inferior or less developed state; declining, regressing.
4. Of the order of something: inverse, reverse.
5. Of the order of something: inverse, reverse.
6. Of ideas or a person: opposing social reform, favouring the maintenance of the status quo; conservative.
7. (archaic) Involving a return to or a retracing of a previous course of travel.
8. (archaic) Counterproductive to a desired outcome; contradictory, contrary.
9. Of a celestial body orbiting another: in the opposite direction to the orbited body's spin.
10. (also, often, postpositional) Of a celestial body: seeming to move across the sky in the opposite direction from its ordinary movement.
11. Of a metamorphic change: resulting from a decrease in pressure or temperature.
12. Of amnesia: relating to the period leading up to the episode which caused it.
13. (archaic) Of verse: reading the same forwards or backwards; palindromic.

Adv

In a reverse direction; backwards.

Noun

1. A movement backwards or opposite to the intended or normal motion.
2. A movement backwards or opposite to the intended or normal motion.
3. One who opposes social reform, favouring the maintenance of the status quo; a conservative.
4. (archaic) One who reneges on an agreement, or switches loyalties; a rebel, a renegade.
5. The reversal of a melody so that what is played first in the original melody is played last, and what is played last in the original melody is played first.

Verb

1. (transitive) To cause (a land feature such as a coastline or waterfall) to undergo retrogradation, that is, to travel in the direction of the land or upstream due to erosion.
2. (transitive) To change (minerals, rocks, etc.) metamorphically through a decrease in pressure or temperature.
3. (obsolete, transitive) To cause (someone or something) to revert to an inferior or less developed state.
4. (intransitive) To revert to an inferior or less developed state; to decline, to regress.
5. (intransitive) Of a celestial body, especially a planet: to show retrogradation; to seem to move across the sky in the opposite direction from its ordinary movement.
6. (intransitive) Of a land feature: to travel in the direction of the land or upstream due to erosion.
7. (intransitive) To retreat or withdraw from a position.
8. (intransitive, obsolete) To move backwards; to recede.
9. (intransitive, obsolete) Of the telling of an incident, etc.: to move to an earlier time.

Opposite of

liberal, progressist, reformist, direct, prograde

Synonyms

retrogressive

retreat

backward

retrogress

reactionary

hash over

regress

unprogressive

regressive

rehash

fall back

decline

retral

recede

reciprocating

retire

deteriorate

backpedal

excuse

fade

fail

fall away

fiddle

go back

ingeminate

inverse

iterate

outdated

pull away

pull back

pull out

reactionist

recessional

recoil

repeat

🔁

replay

replicate

reprise

reproduce

retract

reverse

reverting

run

say

🗣️

unimproved

unregenerate

weaken

withdraw

go backward

lose ground

Translations

retrógrado

rétrograde

retrogrado

retrògrad

retrograd

achterwaarts

retroceder

rückläufig

reazionario

reactionair

gerileyen

retrógrado

ritornare

zurückgehen

παλινδρομικός

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈɹɛtɹə(ʊ)ɡɹeɪd/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: retrograd

Cognate with French: rétrograde

Cognate with French: rétrograder

In summary

The adjective is derived from Middle English retrograd, retrograde (“of a planet: appearing to move in a direction opposite to the order of the zodiac signs, retrograde; unfortunate”), from Middle French retrograde and Old French retrograde (“of a celestial object: appearing to move backwards; moving backwards; reverse; palindromic; opposed to change”) (modern French rétrograde), and from their etymon Latin retrōgradus (“of a celestial object: appearing to move backwards”) (compare Late Latin retrōgradus (“reverse; palindromic”)), from retrō (“back, backwards; behind; before, formerly”) + gradus (“pace, step”). By surface analysis, retro- + -grade.
The adverb and noun are derived from the adjective.