as in to retract
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
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Recent Examples of recant
In 2007, the other girl recanted her allegations against Barriault, and the criminal charges were dropped.
—
Emilia Otte, Hartford Courant, 6 Mar. 2025
Those platforms almost immediately recanted those moves, which in Twitter’s case had included temporarily locking the Post’s account.
—Rob Pegoraro, PCMAG, 21 Feb. 2025
Nothing is wrong with the witnesses, no one recanted or died.
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 19 Feb. 2025
However, Takieddine, who initially testified about delivering millions in cash, later recanted his statement.
—Natalie Venegas, Newsweek, 6 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for recant
Emilia Otte, Hartford Courant, 6 Mar. 2025
Those platforms almost immediately recanted those moves, which in Twitter’s case had included temporarily locking the Post’s account.
—Rob Pegoraro, PCMAG, 21 Feb. 2025
Nothing is wrong with the witnesses, no one recanted or died.
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 19 Feb. 2025
However, Takieddine, who initially testified about delivering millions in cash, later recanted his statement.
—Natalie Venegas, Newsweek, 6 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for recant
Recent Examples of Synonyms for recant
Verb
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On touchdown, investigators determined the side-stay attached to the aircraft’s right main landing gear fractured, the gear retracted, and the right wing broke between the landing gear and fuselage, which is the central part of the plane.—
Alexandra Skores,
CNN,
20 Mar. 2025
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The incident unfolded after the man staged an elaborate fake proposal in front of his friends, only to retract it as a joke.—
Josh Hammer,
Newsweek,
20 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Zoom in: The decision came shortly after USAGM special adviser Kari Lake withdrew an order to terminate the 2025 funding grant for VOA's sister broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.—
Sara Fischer,
Axios,
1 Apr. 2025
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The race attracted serious fundraising from Democrats, and was in the spotlight after President Trump withdrew Rep. Elise Stefanik's name from consideration for U.N. ambassador to avoid risking further depleting his party's already narrow majority.—
Caitlin Yilek,
CBS News,
1 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Renunciation Of Pseudo-Agile: To be truly agile today, teams must be willing to renounce what is commonly misinterpreted as agile.—
Federico Imparatta,
Forbes,
4 Mar. 2025
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This would be a permanent, binding agreement renouncing their claim to the full territory in exchange for a delimited territory south and/or east of the dividing line.—
Hannah Rae Armstrong,
Foreign Affairs,
4 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Recant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/recant. Accessed 5 Apr. 2025.
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