Library / English Dictionary

RETROGRADE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of amnesia; affecting time immediately preceding trauma

Classified under:

Adjectives

Attribute:

temporal relation (a relation involving time)

Antonym:

anterograde (of amnesia; affecting time immediately following trauma)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Moving or directed or tending in a backward direction or contrary to a previous direction

Synonyms:

retral; retrograde

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

backward (directed or facing toward the back or rear)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Moving from east to west on the celestial sphere; or--for planets--around the sun in a direction opposite to that of the Earth

Classified under:

Adjectives

Domain category:

astronomy; uranology (the branch of physics that studies celestial bodies and the universe as a whole)

Antonym:

direct (moving from west to east on the celestial sphere; or--for planets--around the sun in the same direction as the Earth)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Going from better to worse

Synonyms:

retrograde; retrogressive

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

regressive (opposing progress; returning to a former less advanced state)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Get worse or fall back to a previous condition

Synonyms:

regress; retrograde; retrogress

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "retrograde" is one way to...):

decline; worsen (grow worse)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "retrograde"):

drop off; fall back; fall behind; recede (retreat)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 2

Meaning:

Go back over

Example:

retrograde arguments

Synonyms:

hash over; rehash; retrograde

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "retrograde" is one way to...):

recap; recapitulate (summarize briefly)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Move back

Example:

The glacier retrogrades

Synonyms:

retreat; retrograde

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "retrograde" is one way to...):

draw back; move back; pull away; pull back; recede; retire; retreat; withdraw (pull back or move away or backward)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 4

Meaning:

Move in a direction contrary to the usual one

Example:

retrograding planets

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "retrograde" is one way to...):

go; locomote; move; travel (change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 5

Meaning:

Move backward in an orbit, of celestial bodies

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "retrograde" is one way to...):

orb; orbit; revolve (move in an orbit)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Credits

 Context examples: 

Signs and symptoms include anterograde and retrograde amnesia, confabulation, apathy, ataxia, and coma.

(Korsakoff Syndrome, NCI Thesaurus)

I fell asleep on the sofa, however, wondering over and over again how Lucy had made such a retrograde movement, and how she could have been drained of so much blood with no sign anywhere to show for it.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Also called endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography.

(ERCP, NCI Dictionary)

A procedure to open an occluded coronary artery, performed by percutaneous introduction of a catheter into a peripheral (usually femoral) artery which is directed in a retrograde fashion to reach the diseased coronary artery.

(Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty, NCI Thesaurus)

Don’t be worried if you must have an operation during Mercury retrograde.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

A key pathway activated by Trk after retrograde transport involves Erk5, also called BMK1.

(Neuronal Survival Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

An electrocardiographic finding of a regular supraventricular tachycardia which utilizes an atrioventricular bypass tract as its retrograde limb (orthodromic tachycardia) or as its antegrade limb (antidromic tachycardia).

(Atrioventricular Reentrant Tachycardia by ECG Finding, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

Mercury will go retrograde this month from February 16 until March 9.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Failure of retrograde neurotrophin signaling may play a role in neurodegenerative conditions.

(Neuronal Survival Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

Uranus has been retrograding since August 11, 2019, but will move direct on January 10.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)