relapse
/ɹɪˈlæps/
relapse verb: to fall back again; to slide or turn back into a former state or practice.
Verb
relapse (third-person singular simple present relapses, present participle relapsing, simple past and past participle relapsed)
- To fall back again; to slide or turn back into a former state or practice.
- He has improved recently but keeps relapsing into states of utter confusion.
- to relapse into a stupor, into vice, or into barbarism
- To recur; to worsen, be aggravated (after a period of improvement).
- To return to a vice, especially self-harm or alcoholism, failing to maintain abstinence.
- relapsed after 5 months of being clean
- To slip or slide back physically; to turn back.
- You slip your hold and change your side,
Relapsing from a necessary guide.1700, [John] Dryden, “The Hind and the Panther”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC
- You slip your hold and change your side,
Noun
relapse (plural relapses)
- The act or situation of relapsing.
- a drug relapse
- Alas! from what high hope to what relapse / Unlooked for are we fallen!1671, John Milton, “The Second Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC
- An occasion when a person becomes ill again after a period of improvement
- One who has relapsed, or fallen back into error; a backslider.
relapse meaning in Tamil, Bengali, Telugu and Malayalam
relapse in Tamil
- பழைய நிலையடை, மறுக்களிப்பு, மறுமுள், மறுவீழ்வு, மீண்டும் சீர்கேடடைவு, மீண்டும் தோன்றும்
relapse in Bengali
- আবার পূর্বাবস্থায় ফিরে যাওয়া, আবার দেখা দেওয়া, অবনতি হওয়া, আরও খারাপ হয়ে যাওয়া, বিশেষত নিজেকে আঘাত করা, মদ্যপানে
relapse in Telugu
- రీలాప్సింగ్
relapse in Malayalam
- പഴയ മോശമായ സ്ഥിതിയിലേക്ക് മടങ്ങുക, മാറിയ രോഗം വീണ്ടും വരുക, ദുഃസ്ഥിതിയിലാവുക
More languagesFewer languages
- relapse in Kannada
- ಮರುಕಳಿಸು, ಮರುಕಣಿಸು, ಮರುಕೊಳಿಸು, ಮರುಕಳಿ
- relapse in Punjabi
- ਰੀਲੈਪਸ ਕਰਨਾ
- relapse in Tagalog
- binat
Examples of relapse in a sentence
- to relapse into slumber after being disturbed
- Then we relapsed into a discomfited silence, and wished we were anywhere else.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company...
Forms of relapse
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | relapses |
| present participle | relapsing |
| past participle | relapsed |
| past | relapsed |
| Noun | |
| plural | relapses |
Origin of relapse
From Latin relapsus, past participle of relabi (“to slide back, fall back”), from re- (“back”) + labi (“to slip, slide, fall”).
Words formed from relapse
Words that rhyme with relapse
Questions about relapse
- What does relapse mean?
- Relapse means to fall back again; to slide or turn back into a former state or practice.
- What is relapse in Tamil?
- Relapse in Tamil is பழைய நிலையடை, மறுக்களிப்பு, மறுமுள். See Relapse meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use relapse in a sentence?
- to relapse into slumber after being disturbed
- What part of speech is relapse?
- Relapse can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce relapse?
- Relapse is pronounced /ɹɪˈlæps/.
- What is the past tense of relapse?
- The past tense of relapse is relapsed.
Words near relapse in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: relapse (page history and authors); relapse (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); relapse (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); relapse (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); relapse (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); relapse (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); relapse (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “relapse.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/relapse. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.