as in retracted
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as in renounced
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 recanted
Jean Casarez, CNN Money, 5 Oct. 2025
Nicole Briese, PEOPLE, 6 May 2026
Hitchcock recanted during his trial and blamed his brother instead.
—Jeffrey Collins, Sun Sentinel, 30 Apr. 2026
Hitchcock later recanted his confession and said his brother killed Cindy, but he was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death.
—Amanda Lee Myers, USA Today, 29 Apr. 2026
The men were arrested for the brutal murder of Lisa Kindred in front of her children on Mother’s Day 1999, based on witness testimony that was recanted.
—Ray Sanchez, CNN Money, 26 Apr. 2026
On the night he was arrested, Martinez confessed to shaking Heather and banging her head against a crib, but later recanted that confession.
—Shelly Bradbury, Denver Post, 21 Apr. 2026
Citing such evidence, The New York Times editorial board recently recanted some of its earlier support for legalization.
—William Garriott, The Conversation, 17 Apr. 2026
Police said initially there was a report of shots fired, but a minor recanted that statement to officers.
—Andrew Adeolu, CBS News, 8 Mar. 2026
Attorney Warren Lupel, who represented Gary Dotson, a Chicago-area man who went to prison after being convicted of rape and kidnapping but was freed after the woman who accused him of those crimes recanted her testimony, has died.
—Bob Goldsborough, Chicago Tribune, 20 Feb. 2026
Adjective
The two who confessed – and later recanted – were convicted of capital murder and remained in prison until DNA evidence proving their innocence led to their release in 2009, prosecutors said.
—Jean Casarez, CNN Money, 5 Oct. 2025
Verb
Sid confessed to the police but later recanted, per New York.
—Nicole Briese, PEOPLE, 6 May 2026
Hitchcock recanted during his trial and blamed his brother instead.
—Jeffrey Collins, Sun Sentinel, 30 Apr. 2026
Hitchcock later recanted his confession and said his brother killed Cindy, but he was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death.
—Amanda Lee Myers, USA Today, 29 Apr. 2026
The men were arrested for the brutal murder of Lisa Kindred in front of her children on Mother’s Day 1999, based on witness testimony that was recanted.
—Ray Sanchez, CNN Money, 26 Apr. 2026
On the night he was arrested, Martinez confessed to shaking Heather and banging her head against a crib, but later recanted that confession.
—Shelly Bradbury, Denver Post, 21 Apr. 2026
Citing such evidence, The New York Times editorial board recently recanted some of its earlier support for legalization.
—William Garriott, The Conversation, 17 Apr. 2026
Police said initially there was a report of shots fired, but a minor recanted that statement to officers.
—Andrew Adeolu, CBS News, 8 Mar. 2026
Attorney Warren Lupel, who represented Gary Dotson, a Chicago-area man who went to prison after being convicted of rape and kidnapping but was freed after the woman who accused him of those crimes recanted her testimony, has died.
—Bob Goldsborough, Chicago Tribune, 20 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for recanted
Adjective
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On April 22, 2026, Springer Nature posted a retracted article notice almost a year after initial publication.—
Jeremy Hsu,
ArsTechnica,
4 May 2026
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The reading assignments prepared for the judges include a Substack post by a notable climate contrarian accusing the authors of the retracted climate chapter in the federal court’s reference manual of including material by Burger and hiding his authorship.—
Abrahm Lustgarten,
ProPublica,
2 May 2026
Verb
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Philip Fong | Afp | Getty Images Japan renounced war under Article 9 of its post-World War II pacifist constitution.—
Sam Meredith,Lim Hui Jie,
CNBC,
21 Apr. 2026
-
President Ahmed al-Sharaa is a one-time al-Qaeda commander who renounced the ideology before taking power.—
Jane Arraf,
NPR,
11 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Days after four Republican candidates withdrew from the upcoming Platte County election and launched independent campaigns, the county’s Republican committee announced plans to censure those candidates and deem them unwelcome within the party.—
Jenna Ebbers,
Kansas City Star,
8 May 2026
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Polling from March shows Becerra with just 3% of the vote, indicating a 7-point increase for Becerra between then and Emerson’s most recent survey, conducted right after Swalwell withdrew.—
Douglas Schoen,
Oc Register,
8 May 2026
Adjective
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The withheld funding supports election monitoring, independent media and other pro-democracy programs abroad.—
Robert Alexander,
MSNBC Newsweek,
14 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Clemente first denied drinking but later admitted to consuming alcohol.—
Stephen Sorace,
FOXNews.com,
6 May 2026
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Vinicius Jr had alleged that Prestianni had racially abused him, which Prestianni denied on social media.—
Dan Sheldon,
New York Times,
6 May 2026
Adjective
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General Manager Ken Holland hinted at potentially being done after trading center Phillip Danault for a draft pick in December and acquiring Panarin at a suppressed price in February, though he has been known to under-promise often and, sometimes, over-deliver.—
Andrew Knoll,
Daily News,
3 Mar. 2026
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Supervising sound editor Alastair Sirkett told IndieWire that Peter Claffey’s big, former-rugby-player frame really helps that moment sing with suppressed panic.—
Sarah Shachat,
IndieWire,
18 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The reasoning, which contradicted every previous Supreme Court decision on segregation, cited the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.—
Susan Shelley,
Oc Register,
2 May 2026
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Prosecutors, however, argued that the position of his deceased body and the distance from which the shot was fired contradicted her account.—
Jordana Comiter,
PEOPLE,
2 May 2026
Adjective
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There, migrant labor, economic need and repressed desire collide, especially through his uneasy bond with Arvydas, a Czech co-worker whose open homophobia masks darker tensions.—
Callum McLennan,
Variety,
11 May 2026
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The gothic genre is well suited to repressed stories.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
4 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Recanted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/recanted. Accessed 14 May. 2026.
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