The meaning of RELAPSE is the act or an instance of backsliding, worsening, or subsiding. How to use relapse in a sentence.

Being & falling ill (Definition of relapsing from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

To return to a former state. 2. a. To become sicker after partial recovery from an illness. b. To recur. Used of an illness. 3. To slip back into bad ways; backslide. A return to a former state, …

If you say that someone relapses into a way of behaving that is undesirable, you mean that they start to behave in that way again. 'I wish I did,' said Phil Jordan, relapsing into his usual gloom. …

The general meaning of relapse is a deterioration in health status after an improvement. In the realm of addiction, relapse has a more specific meaning—a return to substance use after a …

Many former smokers relapse [=begin smoking again] in times of stress.

re•lapse /v. rɪˈlæps; n. also ˈrilæps/ v., -lapsed, -laps•ing, n. to fall or slip back into a former state or practice: to relapse into silence. Pathology to fall back into illness after seeming to get better …

Dec 10, 2025 · In Substance Use Disorder (SUD), relapse is defined as a return to substance use after a period of abstinence, often returning to previous levels of consumption. The American …

Aug 11, 2025 · We usually make two very common mistakes in how we think about relapse: 1) We believe we’ll never relapse because we’re too strong. 2) We see relapse as failure. If we …

an act or instance of relapsing. a return of a disease or illness after partial recovery from it.