Definition of "relapse" in English

verb

1. (intransitive) 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 relapse into slumber after being disturbed

2. (intransitive, medicine, of a disease) To recur; to worsen, be aggravated (after a period of improvement).

3. (intransitive, informal, specifically) To return to a vice, especially self-harm or alcoholism, failing to maintain abstinence.

   • relapsed after 5 months of being clean

4. To slip or slide back physically; to turn back.

noun

1. The act or situation of relapsing.

   • a drug relapse

2. (medicine) An occasion when a person becomes ill again after a period of improvement

3. (obsolete) One who has relapsed, or fallen back into error; a backslider.