1
: the act or an instance of backsliding, worsening, or subsiding
2
: a recurrence of symptoms of a disease after a period of improvement
relapsed; relapsing
1
: to slip or fall back into a former worse state
relapser
noun
Examples of relapse in a Sentence
Noun
Everyone thought she was well until a sudden relapse sent her back to the hospital.
a drug addict who has had a relapse
a drug addict who has a history of relapse
Verb
If you don't continue your treatment, you could relapse.
Malaria can relapse years after the original infection.
The country soon relapsed into chaos.
She stayed out of trouble for a long time, but then she relapsed into her old ways.
Recent Examples on the Web
Anantaajith Raghuraman, The Athletic, 2 Jan. 2025
Biden and his family believe the attacks on Hunter were meant to push him into relapse, then imperil his presidency.
—Alex Thompson, Axios, 2 Dec. 2024
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, TIME, 21 Dec. 2024
These diseases are trench fever, epidemic typhus, and louse-borne relapsing fever.54
Summary
Body lice are tiny insects that live in bedding and clothes and feed on human blood.
—Josephine Hessert, Verywell Health, 2 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for relapse 
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Noun
There have not been any serious signs of a relapse, but that is still a very young age to suffer such a serious setback.
—Anantaajith Raghuraman, The Athletic, 2 Jan. 2025
Biden and his family believe the attacks on Hunter were meant to push him into relapse, then imperil his presidency.
—Alex Thompson, Axios, 2 Dec. 2024
Verb
Many participants expressed the hope that Trump does not relapse into the divide-and-conquer bullying that drove business leaders away.
—Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, TIME, 21 Dec. 2024
These diseases are trench fever, epidemic typhus, and louse-borne relapsing fever.54
Summary
Body lice are tiny insects that live in bedding and clothes and feed on human blood.
—Josephine Hessert, Verywell Health, 2 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for relapse
Dictionary Entries Near relapse
Cite this Entry
“Relapse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/relapse. Accessed 18 Jan. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
Medical Definition
: a recurrence of illness
especially
: a recurrence of symptoms of a disease after a period of improvement
a relapse after an 18-month remission —M. T. Fosburg et al.
compare recrudescence
M. T. Fosburg et al. relapse
2 of 2 intransitive verb
re·lapse
ri-ˈlaps 
relapsed; relapsing
: to slip or fall back into a former worse state (as of illness) after a change for the better
the patient relapsed twice in four years
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share