recanting

verb

present participle of recant
as in retracting
to solemnly or formally reject or go back on (as something formerly adhered to) the Inquisition forced Galileo to recant his support of the Copernican observation that the earth revolves around the sun

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of recanting But in 1999, the four men were arrested, with Springsteen and Scott confessing and later recanting, according to the AP. — Emily Shapiro, ABC News, 19 Feb. 2026 Campbell also dismissed the third eyewitness recanting her testimony, saying there's no evidence of tampering during the trial. — Kristine Phillips, IndyStar, 26 Jan. 2026 Lunsford ended up recanting his statement when questioned again, this time by a district attorney’s investigator. — Tony Saavedra, Oc Register, 17 Sep. 2025 However, in a 2024 court filing known as a coram nobis petition, Zachary Adams revealed Autry was recanting his testimony and asked for a new trial. — Julia Bonavita, FOXNews.com, 24 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for recanting
  1. retracting
  2. renouncing
  3. withdrawing
  4. denying
  5. contradicting
Verb
  • The remote control has mixed reviews, with this seemingly retracting from its otherwise glowing reviews.
    — Tantse Walter, Space.com, 26 June 2026
  • The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said in a recall notice that the seat belts in certain Expedition and Lincoln vehicles may inadvertently lock, preventing the belt from retracting or extending.
    — Mary Cunningham, CBS News, 3 June 2026
Definition of retracting
Verb
  • The 2019 Business Roundtable statement renouncing MSV changed rhetoric.
    — Steve Denning, Forbes.com, 3 Aug. 2026
  • Mark Ford Rosemary Tonks emulated French Symbolist poets before converting to Christianity and renouncing all her own works.
    — The New York Review of Books, The New York Review of Books, 4 July 2026
Definition of renouncing
Verb
  • Trump announced last month that there had been a breakthrough in his plan to end the war, with Israeli forces withdrawing as Hamas disarms and an International Stabilization Force working with a new Palestinian police force to secure the enclave.
    — Anniek Bao, CNBC, 10 Aug. 2026
  • The list includes measures such as an end to the US naval blockade of Iranian ports, withdrawing military forces and permanently ending the war.
    — Hanna Ziady, CNN Money, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of withdrawing
Verb
  • The letter from the state Attorney General’s Office asserts that Menlo Park improperly changed its reasons for denying a streamlined approval process for the residential portion of the project.
    — George Avalos, Mercury News, 5 Aug. 2026
  • There’s no denying that rhetoric over the bear hunt, which was approved by the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission last summer, boiled over.
    — Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of denying
Verb
  • The hosts provided no evidence of political coordination, compensation from conservative groups or private statements contradicting Cunningham’s public position.
    — Dan Zaksheske OutKick, FOXNews.com, 6 Aug. 2026
  • Republicans on the committee accused Fauci of privately contradicting his public advocacy in his diary entries, while Democrats said he was being scapegoated in a partisan inquiry relitigating events that happened years ago.
    — Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA Today, 30 July 2026
Definition of contradicting

Browse Nearby Words

recanted
recanting
recants
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Recanting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/recanting. Accessed 11 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on recanting

Nglish: Translation of recanting for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Aug. 7

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
fridge-magnet-letters
Drop a Letter Quiz August 2026 Drop a letter from a word to make a totally diffe...
See All