Synonyms of recanted

recanted 1 of 2

adjective

as in retracted

Related Words

• retracted
• revoked
• withheld
• suppressed
• repressed
• stifled
• personal
• concealed
• reserved
• silenced
• intimate
• surreptitious
• conspiratorial
• undercover
• undisclosed
• clandestine
• underhanded
• collusive
• covert
• classified
• underhand
• unannounced
• confidential
• unadvertised
• privy
• private
• secret

Dissimilar Words

• public
• open
• general
• popular
• unclassified
• well-known
• nonclassified

recanted

2 of 2

verb

past tense of recant

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• retracted
• renounced
• withdrew
• denied
• contradicted
• refuted
• repealed
• abandoned
• repudiated
• abjured
• reneged
• relinquished
• took back
• forswore
• disavowed
• recalled
• disowned
• disclaimed
• disproved
• unsaid
• spurned
• abnegated
• rebutted
• gainsaid
• forsook
• negated
• controverted
• disputed
• revoked
• disagreed (with)
• surrendered
• backtracked
• bolted
• negatived
• disallowed
• gave up
• backed down
• backed off

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• stated
• admitted
• claimed
• acknowledged
• affirmed
• declared
• asserted
• maintained
• proclaimed
• contended
• adhered (to)
• confirmed
• professed
• supported
• adopted
• defended
• endorsed
• accepted
• backed
• upheld
• vowed
• vouched
• avowed
• embraced
• espoused

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of recanted

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

Now, Carter is submitting a new appeal after Jane Doe fully recanted her claims last week. — Alejandra Gularte, Vulture, 29 Sep. 2026

Judge Carl Weimer vacated the conviction after the only witness tying Wolfe to the shooting recanted his testimony, and Wolfe agreed to a plea deal on marijuana and robbery charges for a sentence of time served. — ABC News, 29 Sep. 2026

Jane Doe recanted her claims in a legal declaration, filed in New York on Thursday evening. — Elizabeth Wagmeister, CNN Money, 25 Sep. 2026

This included expert witnesses who said the child’s death was an accidental drowning brought on by a seizure and a jailhouse informant who recanted his trial testimony that Duncan had confessed to the crime. — Richard A. Webster, ProPublica, 31 Aug. 2026

Over the years, questions about the evidence against Smith emerged as a witness recanted, Lowden repudiated his earlier statement implicating Smith, and another man claimed responsibility for Hart's killing. — Landon Mion, FOXNews.com, 21 Aug. 2026

In lieu of physical evidence, some witnesses gave statements against Noling during his trial, but later recanted their statements and said they were initially pressured by the prosecutor to give them, the Death Penalty Information Center says. — CBS News, 19 Aug. 2026

At least three people were arrested and police said at least four others have recanted. — Aj Willingham, AJC.com, 17 June 2026

Others have recanted and said police coerced them into implicating Washington and Simms. — John Annese, New York Daily News, 22 May 2026