後退|こうたいkoutai[0]heiban (flat)

1. noun, suru verb, intransitive verbretreat; falling back; moving backwards; reversing; backing up (of a vehicle); retrogression; retraction
2. noun, suru verb, intransitive verbrecession; waning
   自動車じどうしゃの売れ行うれゆきは年度末ねんどまつに後退こうたいしました。↗

   Automobile sales suffered a setback at the end of the financial year.
3. noun, computingbackspace (key)

• Related後ずさりあとずさりCasualColloquial. Stepping back while still facing forward, usually out of fear, as in 「思わず後ずさりする」. Unlike 後退, it has no sense of economic or political decline.
• Related低下ていかNeutralNeutral noun for a drop in level or degree, as in 「能力の低下」. It stresses things getting worse in degree and cannot describe physically moving backward.
• Related下落げらくNeutralNeutral noun for falling prices or values, as in 「株価の下落」. Mostly economic; it never describes physical backward movement the way 後退 can.
• Related減退げんたいWrittenWritten. A noun for decline or weakening, as in 「食欲減退」. Typically used of physical strength, appetite or desire rather than backward motion.
• Related下り坂くだりざかNeutralA downhill slope, or figuratively a decline, as in 「天気は下り坂」. Common in casual talk and weather forecasts alike, unlike the broader 後退.
• Related退潮たいちょうNeutralNeutral noun for an ebb tide or the waning of influence, as in 「人気の退潮」. It pictures power receding like a tide, not physical backward movement.
• Related減衰げんすいWrittenWritten. A noun for gradual attenuation, as in 「信号の減衰」. Mainly physics and technical contexts; it does not describe people or cars moving back.
• Related後ずさるあとずさるCasualColloquial verb meaning to step backward, synonymous with 後ずさり. Use it for flinching back in fear; it does not cover the decline senses of 後退.
• Related衰微すいびWrittenWritten and literary. The decline of something once flourishing, as in 「国力の衰微」. More literary in flavor than 後退 and never about physical motion.
• Related凋落ちょうらくWrittenWritten. The withering and fall of something distinguished, as in 「名門の凋落」. Suggests the downfall of a family or house, not backward movement.
• Related衰滅すいめつWrittenWritten and rare. Decline leading to outright ruin or extinction. Far stronger than 後退, which only implies a setback or recession.
• Related退行たいこうWrittenWritten. Retrogression or regression, often psychological, as in 「幼児退行」. Used mainly in psychology for reverting to an earlier stage.
• Antonym前進ぜんしんNeutralThe direct opposite: moving forward or making headway, where 後退 is moving or falling back.
• Antonym進歩しんぽNeutralProgress or improvement toward something better; it contrasts with the sense of 後退 as sliding backward rather than advancing.
• Antonym進出しんしゅつNeutralAdvancing or expanding into a new field or market; it stands opposite to 後退 in its sense of retreating or pulling out.

Use 「後退」 for moving backward or reversing (「車を後退させる」) and for economic or political decline (「景気後退」). For flinching back in fear, choose 「後ずさり」; for a drop in level, 「低下」; for falling prices, 「下落」. The antonyms 「前進」, 「進歩」 and 「進出」 point the other way.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

1. 後うしろに下さがること。