The verb is pronounced /rɪtɑ:(r)d/. The noun is pronounced /ri:tɑ:(r)d/.
( retarded)
1.
If something retards a process, or the development of something, it makes it happen more slowly. ( FORMAL )
Continuing violence will retard negotiations over the country’s future.
= slow down
VERB : V n
2.
If you describe someone as a retard , you mean that they have not developed normally, either mentally or socially. ( INFORMAL, OFFENSIVE )
What the hell do I want with an emotional retard?
N-COUNT [ disapproval ]