noun · verb · 10 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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/ɹɪˈlæps/
/ˈɹiːˌlæps/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -æps
CMU ARPABET:R IY0 L AE1 P S
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
The act or situation of relapsing.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
a drug relapse
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
An occasion when a person becomes ill again after a period of improvement
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: medicine, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
One who has relapsed, or fallen back into error; a backslider.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
verb
Meaning 4
To fall back again; to slide or turn back into a former state or practice.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
Examples
He has improved recently but keeps relapsing into states of utter confusion.
to relapse into a stupor, into vice, or into barbarism
to relapse into slumber after being disturbed
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
verb
Meaning 5
To recur; to worsen, be aggravated (after a period of improvement).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
Topics: medicine, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
verb
Meaning 6
To return to a vice, especially self-harm or alcoholism, failing to maintain abstinence.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: informal, intransitive, specifically
Examples
relapsed after 5 months of being clean
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
7
verb
Meaning 7
To slip or slide back physically; to turn back.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
8
noun
Meaning 8
a failure to maintain a higher state
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.