Basic Details
Word: Retrograde
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Moving backwards, or going back to a worse or older state.
Synonyms: backward, regressive
Antonyms: progressive, forward, advanced
Word origin: From Latin retrogradus, going backwards, from retro, backwards, and gradi, to step.
How to Spell Retrograde
Syllables: ret - ro - grade
Tricky part: It is retro + grade. The middle vowel is o, not a or e, and the word ends in grade, as in a school grade.
Watch out for: retragrade, retregrade, retrogade
Memory tip: Retro means backwards and grade comes from a word for a step: a retrograde step is a step back. Spell retro, then grade.
Usage Examples
Example 1: Banning girls from the sports ground would be a retrograde decision.
Example 2: The patient had retrograde amnesia and could not recall the accident.
Example 3: Some people see the return to paper tickets as retrograde.
Fun Fact
Astronomers use retrograde motion for the way a planet such as Mars seems to drift backwards across the night sky for some weeks; it happens because Earth is overtaking it in orbit.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Only one of these words is spelt correctly. Choose its meaning:
1. retrograde 2. progresive 3. desparate 4. temprature
a) moving backwards or getting worse
b) how hot or cold something is
c) feeling hopeless and ready to try anything
d) in favour of new ideas and change
Show answer
a) moving backwards or getting worse. Progressive needs two s's, desperate an e, not a, after the p, and temperature an e between the p and the r.
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word retrograde as used in the sentence:
Many parents felt that cutting the library budget was a retrograde step for the school.
a) harmful
b) backward
c) regressive
d) progressive
Show answer
d) progressive. Backward and regressive mean the same as the word; a progressive step would move the school forward.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters in the sentence to form a meaningful word:
The old rule was a gardeterro move that took the town back fifty years.
a) retreated
b) degraded
c) retrograde
d) regarded
Show answer
c) retrograde. None of the other three has an o, and degraded and regarded have no t either.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Retrograde amnesia means losing memories of ____.
a) events before an injury
b) events after an injury
c) the faces of strangers
d) words in a new language
Show answer
a) events before an injury
2. Which word is closest in meaning to retrograde?
a) backward
b) onward
c) upward
d) inward
Show answer
a) backward
