The phrase "a retrogressive step" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to describe an action or decision that represents a decline or reversal in progress or development.
Example: "The new policy is seen by many as a retrogressive step in our efforts to promote equality."
Alternatives: "a backward move" or "a regressive action".
"Separating them out seems to be a retrogressive step, particularly in a small country like Wales where it would make far more sense for resources to be shared".
"Reducing broadcasts to just a few hours a day would be a retrogressive step, leaving us with only commercial Asian stations.
In 1951, when the piece was premiered in Venice, Stravinsky, then in his late 60s, must have known that it would be seen by younger modernists as a retrogressive step.
Today's letter to the BBC Trust, also signed by peers Lord (Kamlesh) Patel and Lord (Navnit) Dholakia, actors Laila Rouass and Sanjeev Bhaskar and BBC Sport presenter Manish Bhasin, describes the decision as a "retrogressive step".
But for Hong Kong to become more like Shenzhen would be a retrogressive step into a more brutal, more lawless form of capitalism, the kind of economics that is coming unstuck in the rest of Asia.
Content junkies who live to bookmark, tag, annotate and share might see this as a retrogressive step — but until we have networked electronic paper as standard, Newspaper Club seems like the next best thing.
In a submission to a Senate inquiry it argued the bill "introduces a retrogressive measure which is inconsistent with Australia's international human rights obligations".
He further concluded that the higher rate of reproduction among blacks had a retrogressive effect on evolution.
Is it a retrogressive dinosaur in a democratised world of dining out?
Matthew Passion," redemption comes through the embrace of suffering -- a retrogressive illusion of a different historical moment, Adorno might say.
"The state has failed to satisfy its burden of proving that those changes will not have a retrogressive effect on minority votes," the ruling said.
