Meaning & use
regression
A return to an earlier, less developed, or worse state or way of behaving.
See it in a sentence
After the accident, the patient showed a regression in his ability to speak clearly.
Critics called the new policy a regression to outdated and unfair hiring practices.
A note on using this word
In statistics, 'regression' has a specialized technical meaning: a method for modeling the relationship between variables, as in 'linear regression'.
Words with a similar meaning
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Words with an opposite meaning
Another way to use it
2. noun
A statistical technique used to estimate the relationships between a dependent variable and one or more independent variables.
The researchers ran a regression to see how strongly income predicted spending habits.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “regression”, then compare your use with the examples above.