backslide
verb
back·slide
| \ ˈbak-ˌslīd
\
\
backslid\ ˈbak-ˌslid
\;
backslid
or backslidden\ ˈbak-ˌsli-dᵊn
\;
backsliding\ ˈbak-ˌslī-diŋ
\
\;
backslid
or backslidden\ ˈbak-ˌsli-dᵊn
\;
backsliding\ ˈbak-ˌslī-diŋ
\
Definition of backslide
1
: to lapse morally or in the practice of religion
2
: to revert to a worse condition : retrogress
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Other Words from backslide
backslide
noun
backslider
\ ˈbak-ˌslī-dər
\
noun
\
noun
Examples of backslide in a Sentence
Smokers who quit often backslide within a year.
Recent Examples on the Web
As for Veronica’s friends, Weevil (Francis Capra) has backslid into crime, Wallace (Percy Daggs III) is a family man, and Mac (Tina Majorino) is out of town. — Shirley Li, The Atlantic, "The Moody Return of Veronica Mars," 15 July 2019 The Clinton chapter of that relationship ended amid fears that Yeltsin’s successor, Vladimir Putin, was backsliding on democracy. — Eugene Rumer, Time, "How to Reset U.S.-Russian Relations Today," 20 June 2019 Her task at Metro will be creating planning and maintenance programs to ensure that the transit agency doesn’t backslide on its efforts to maintain the system. — Washington Post, "Metro has a new team running its rail operations. There’s something unusual about them.," 10 June 2019 The path forward hasn’t been smooth—particularly in the past few years, policies and attitudes regarding LGBTQ people have seemed to backslide. — Maddie Burakoff, Smithsonian, "Fifty Years After Stonewall, A Look at the Struggles and Celebrations of LGBTQ Americans," 19 June 2019 From now until then, Jackson’s mechanical improvements cannot backslide. — Jonas Shaffer, baltimoresun.com, "Ravens QB Lamar Jackson saved his best for last at minicamp. Now comes an important break.," 13 June 2019 Add veterans Kihei Clark and Mamadi Diakite, and the Cavs won’t backslide into irrelevance as the defending champs. — Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, "The Hotline’s revised top-25 basketball rankings for 2020 (after NBA Draft and transfer fallout)," 10 June 2019 Investors face two key questions: First, are emerging markets really backsliding? — James Mackintosh, WSJ, "Investor Lessons From Turkey’s Crash to Earth," 14 Aug. 2018 The story of Hungary’s backslide Hungary, a member of the European Union since 2004, had been a competitive democracy since the early 1990s. — John Ahlquist, Washington Post, "Hungarians go to the polls today. But are voters enough to protect democracy?," 8 Apr. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'backslide.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for backslide
backslide
verb
English Language Learners Definition of backslide
: to start doing something bad again after you have stopped it
See the full definition for backslide in the English Language Learners Dictionary