lapsed Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb pass into a specified state or condition
    lapse; sink; pass.
    • He sank into nirvana
  2. verb end, at least for a long time
    lapse.
    • The correspondence lapsed
  3. verb drop to a lower level, as in one's morals or standards
    lapse; backslide.
  4. verb go back to bad behavior
    retrogress; recidivate; relapse; lapse; fall back; regress.
    • Those who recidivate are often minor criminals
  5. verb let slip
    lapse.
    • He lapsed his membership
  6. verb pass by
    elapse; go along; lapse; slip away; go by; glide by; slip by; pass; slide by.
    • three years elapsed
  7. adjective satellite no longer active or practicing
    nonchurchgoing.
    • a lapsed Catholic

WordNet

Lapsed adjective
Definitions
  1. Having slipped downward, backward, or away; having lost position, privilege, etc., by neglect; -- restricted to figurative uses.
    Once more I will renew His lapsed powers, though forfeit. Milton.
  2. Ineffectual, void, or forfeited; as, a lapsed policy of insurance; a lapsed legacy. Wharton (Law Dict.).

Webster 1913