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

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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 Now with Jane Doe recanting her claims, Carter’s attorneys have filed a notice to the judge, dismissing all claims against her — though their case against her former attorney, Buzbee, still stands. — Elizabeth Wagmeister, CNN Money, 25 Sep. 2026 Lawyers for the former Penn State assistant football coach told a court that one of his victims signed an affidavit recanting his testimony, court documents say. — Dan Snyder, CBS News, 27 Aug. 2026 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
  • With styling that’s part Art Deco, part Steampunk, and part contemporary elegance, the Supersport comes with the choice of either a removable composite-hardtop roof or a retracting mohair soft-top setup.
    — Viju Mathew, Robb Report, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Vivo and Oppo phones have relied on various gimmicks, like smaller gimbals and pop-out lenses, to improve camera performance, though not to the extent of a physically retracting gimbal.
    — Florence Ion, PC Magazine, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of retracting
Verb
  • Although economic espionage is not without risk, unilaterally renouncing the practice in the current global environment is far more dangerous.
    — DAVID S. COHEN, Foreign Affairs, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Eric Lai, a senior fellow with the Georgetown Center for Asian Law, said every actor in Hong Kong civil society who assumed that renouncing violence and working within the law would be fine has to revise that assumption.
    — Kanis Leung, Los Angeles Times, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of renouncing
Verb
  • In these situations, withdrawing into a literal or symbolic dark room—avoiding sources of stress and going to a safe place—can be adaptive in the short term.
    — Maia Szalavitz, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
  • After two decades of war, the US military was withdrawing from Afghanistan, and Kabul was falling.
    — Azadeh Moaveni, Vanity Fair, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of withdrawing
Verb
  • Her husband, Conor, has gone on the record denying any involvement in her death.
    — Kelsie Cairns , Adam Sabes, FOXNews.com, 21 Oct. 2026
  • The latter predicts a single universe by denying the universal validity of Schrödinger’s equation.
    — Philipp Strasberg, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of denying
Verb
  • The contradicting geological and orbital observations for Phobos and Deimos collected to date have prevented scientists from definitively establishing one hypothesis over the other.
    — Josh Dinner, Space.com, 18 Oct. 2026
  • His argument would have been laughable, if not for the fact that Black Americans were barred from giving testimony against white people in California’s courts and therefore from contradicting Smith’s account.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of contradicting

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Cite this Entry

“Recanting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/recanting. Accessed 26 Oct. 2026.

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