Backslide
/ˈbæk.slaɪd/noun
To relapse into a worse state or former bad habits.
Did you know?Backslide is a real English word built from the ordinary verb *slide*, but its power comes from the moral image of slipping backward—especially in 19th-century religious language about relapse and lost progress.
Etymological Timeline
Old English
OE
slīdan
“to glide or slip along a surface”
Middle English
ME
sliden
“to slide, slip, or move smoothly”
16th Century
English
backslide
“to slip backward physically or figuratively”
18th-19th Century
English
backslider
“a person who relapses from a religious or moral commitment”
Modern English
English
backslide
“to relapse into a former bad state, habit, or belief”