regress
/ˈɹiːˌɡɹɛs/noun, verb
regress is spelled R-E-G-R-E-S-S: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 45,363rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, regress means “The act of passing back; passage back; return; retrogression” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of regress is regresses.
How many letters and syllables are in regress?
| Letters | 7: R-E-G-R-E-S-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 45,363rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is regress?
Regress appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 45,363rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce regress?
- /ˈɹiːˌɡɹɛs/
As a verb (“To move backwards to an earlier stage; to devolve”): /ˈɹiːˌɡɹɛs/, /ɹɪˈɡɹɛs/.
Regress has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-regress_(noun).wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-regress_(verb).wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of regress
- regresses plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- regressing participle, present
- regressed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does regress mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The act of passing back; passage back; return; retrogression.
- 2
The power or liberty of passing back.
- 3
The right of a person (such as a lessee) to return to a property.
verb
- 1
To move backwards to an earlier stage; to devolve.
- 2
To re-develop behavior one had previously grown out of, particularly a behavior left behind in childhood.
Your nightmares stopped when you were eight years old, but after the house burned down, you regressed.
- 3
To move in the retrograde direction.
- 4
To reduce in severity or size (as of a tumor), without reaching total remission.
- 5
To perform a regression on an explanatory variable.
When we regress Y on X, we use the values of variable X to predict those of Y.
- 6
To interrogate a person in a state of trance about forgotten elements of their past.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Regress in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to move backwards to an earlier stage:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | régresser |
| German | sich zurückbilden |
| Portuguese | regredir, retroceder |
| Spanish | retrogradar, retroceder |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does regress come from?
(verb) From Latin regressus, past participle of regredior (“to go back”), from re- (“back”) + gradior (“to go”). Doublet of regressus.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).