Meaning

Directed or moving backwards in relation to the normal or previous direction of travel; retreating..

Definitions by Sense

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. Of the order of something: inverse, reverse.
4. Of ideas or a person: opposing social reform, favouring the maintenance of the status quo; conservative.
5. Involving a return to or a retracing of a previous course of travel.
6. Counterproductive to a desired outcome; contradictory, contrary.
7. Of a celestial body orbiting another: in the opposite direction to the orbited body's spin.
8. Of a celestial body: seeming to move across the sky in the opposite direction from its ordinary movement.

Example Sentences

retrograde ideas, morals, etc.

Such retrograde people still exist, resisting modernity, dragging their feet.

[…] in the form of the pussyfooted Alexis Smith. While referring to [Cole] Porter's 1946 film (alleged) biography, Night and Day, she mentions there were "certain aspects of the story which at that time they could not do." Was "certain aspects" a euphemism for gay? Smith's misplaced politeness here is truly retrograde.

In going back to school in Wittenberg, / It is most retrograde to our desire: / And we beseech you, bend you to remain

Mercury retrograde

The inauspicious connotations of Mercury retrograde are actually quite old, evidenced in an ancient branch of astrology known as horary astrology.

[…] Monna Brigida, who had retrograded to false hair in Romola's absence, but now drew it off again and declared she would not mind being gray, if her dear child would stay with her.

A dabble in the stocks does not always turn out profitably; cotton is sometimes heavy on our hands, and real estate will sulkily retrograde, when, by the calculation, it ought to have advanced.

Word Forms

• more retrograde
• most retrograde
• retrogrades
• retrograding
• retrograded

Synonyms for retrograde

Antonyms for retrograde

Related Words

When Should You Use Retrograde?

Use retrograde when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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