RETREATING Synonyms: 78 Similar and Opposite Words

retreating

verb

present participle of retreat

as in withdrawing

to move back or away (as from something difficult, dangerous, or disagreeable) we retreated to the safety of the cellar at the first sign of the tornado

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in fleeing

to hasten away from something dangerous or frightening the untried soldiers retreated in humiliating disarray almost as soon as the enemy's onslaught began

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 retreating The Jakobshavn glacier in Greenland is now retreating up to 164 feet (50 meters) a day, Otosaka said. — ABC News, 16 Sep. 2026 The Jakobshavn glacier in Greenland is now retreating up to 164 feet a day, Otosaka said. — Seth Borenstein, Los Angeles Times, 16 Sep. 2026 The American has the ball in the centre, with Leeds attacking at pace and Liverpool retreating. — Beren Cross, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2026 The yield briefly crossed 5% on Monday, its highest level since October 2023, before retreating. — Sean Conlon,chloe Taylor,lee Ying Shan,ananya Chetia, CNBC, 14 Sep. 2026 But Jewish security is not achieved by retreating from the rest of New York. — Mark Treyger, New York Daily News, 8 Sep. 2026 There was television, which, starting in the nineteen-fifties, kept kids indoors; also, houses got a lot bigger, and families smaller, so that most kids suddenly had the option of retreating to their own bedrooms. — Joshua Rothman, New Yorker, 4 Sep. 2026 Allgood enjoys retreating to the privacy of her own room after a busy day. — Kathleen Wong, USA Today, 2 Sep. 2026 Stepping into the public sphere rather than retreating became both a survival strategy and a refuge—an assertion of political and artistic self-determination. — Elisa R. Linn, Artforum, 1 Sep. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for retreating

Verb

The White House did not give a reason for withdrawing Schroyer's nomination.

— Luke Barr, ABC News, 17 Sep. 2026
Kraft rallied together several other stadium owners into withdrawing their venues from the tour if Macklemore had been allowed to perform.

— Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 16 Sep. 2026

Definition of withdrawing

Verb

The painting belonged to Jacques Goudstikker, a Jewish art dealer who was fleeing the Netherlands for England on a ship in 1940 during World War II.

— Hikmat Mohammed, ARTnews.com, 23 Sep. 2026
This type of maritime migration is different from the once-common arrivals of rafts and other homemade vessels that Cubans are known to use to escape their homeland, and the overloaded freighters and sailboats used by people fleeing Haiti.

— David Goodhue, Miami Herald, 22 Sep. 2026

Definition of fleeing

Verb

Versatile forward Nicolas Batum is retiring following an 18-year NBA career and a long stint with the French national team.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 21 Sep. 2026
Despite a rainy forecast and the postponement of a ceremony honoring retiring Mets radio broadcaster Howie Rose, the game began on time and wasn't interrupted.

— CBS New York Team, CBS News, 20 Sep. 2026

Definition of retiring

Verb

Or two weeks ago, flying to Frieze Seoul, 37 hours there and back, after a trip to the East Coast and Europe that was another 42.

— Lane Brown, Vulture, 23 Sep. 2026
Nearly $2 billion from venture capital investors has underpinned Zipline’s global business that has grown from flying medical supplies to food delivery for Uber.

— Alexander Onukwue, semafor.com, 22 Sep. 2026

Definition of flying

Verb

Now every SaaS company that spent the last three years bolting AI features onto legacy infrastructure just got very expensive news.

— Rafael Flores, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2026
San Francisco is still bolting new pieces together, including fitting Mike Evans into the offense on the fly.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 9 Sep. 2026

Definition of bolting

Verb

The victim can be seen running full speed away from a man chasing him down with a knife before escaping into a building in a harrowing video taken from a surveillance camera, posted on X by Crown Heights Shmira.

— Roni Jacobson, New York Daily News, 24 Sep. 2026
There’s no escaping the feeling of this mass, and no magic feats of engineering, like with Rivian or various German automakers, will mask this.

— Joel Feder, The Drive, 24 Sep. 2026

Definition of escaping

Verb

Six additional citations — speeding, improper passing, failing to drive in a single lane, following too closely, failing to obey traffic control and running a red light — have been added to his charges.

— Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 19 Sep. 2026
The economy is running hotter, and the labor market is tight, meaning higher yields represent some normalization from crisis-era lows.

— Jason Ma, Fortune, 19 Sep. 2026