regressive
adjective
re·gres·sive
| \ ri-ˈgre-siv
\
\
Definition of regressive
1
: tending to regress or produce regression
2
: being, characterized by, or developing in the course of an evolutionary process involving increasing simplification of bodily structure
3
: decreasing in rate as the base increases
a regressive tax
Keep scrolling for more
Other Words from regressive
regressively
adverb
regressiveness
noun
regressivity
\ ˌrē-ˌgre-ˈsi-və-tē
\
noun
\
noun
Examples of regressive in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
View Sample Sign Up Now The tax cut Trump signed in December 2017–while horribly structured, regressive and fiscally irresponsible–did put more money into some people’s pockets and did enhance incentives to invest. — Alan Blinder, Time, "The Economy Under Trump Is Very Good. But Don’t Get Too Comfortable," 22 Aug. 2019 And, as the current debate maintains, the right place to start raising revenues is at the very top of the scale, where the vast share of growth has accrued in recent decades, a trend that’s been exacerbated by Trump’s wasteful, regressive tax cuts. — Jared Bernstein, Vox, "We can’t fund the progressive agenda by taxing the 1% alone," 2 Aug. 2019 Carl Davis, research director with the Washington, D.C.-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said cutting the dividend is regressive, hitting lower-income families particularly hard. — Washington Post, "Alaska budget woes prod debate over oil-wealth fund checks," 9 Aug. 2019 Carl Davis, research director with the Washington, D.C.-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said cutting the dividend is regressive, hitting lower-income families particularly hard. — Becky Bohrer, Anchorage Daily News, "Alaska’s oil money headaches: ‘We did this to ourselves’," 9 Aug. 2019 Another objection with at least a superficial logic is that a program to cancel student debt will necessarily be regressive, benefiting the wealthy more than the working class. — Michael Hiltzik, latimes.com, "Eliminating student debt would be a terrific economic stimulus program," 24 June 2019 Women who prefer to stay home with very young children are stigmatized as regressive and antifeminist. — Erica Komisar, WSJ, "The Human Cost of Sweden’s Welfare State," 11 July 2018 There is now a need to extricate it from regressive nationalist politics, moving it towards a broader intersectional framework of progressive queerness. — Anish Gawande, Quartz India, "Transgender citizens: The other “integral part of India” that may have been shortchanged by its parliament," 6 Aug. 2019 On top of that, the notion of celebrating ownership lining their pockets with a few extra bucks is rather regressive and repulsive. — Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, "Kurtenbach: Farhan Zaidi aced his first Giants trade deadline," 31 July 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'regressive.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Keep scrolling for more
Keep scrolling for more
More Definitions for regressive
regressive
adjective
re·gres·sive
| \ ri-ˈgres-iv
\
\
Medical Definition of regressive
: relating to, resulting from, producing, or characterized by regression
regressive behavior regressive tissue changes
Keep scrolling for more