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recant

[ri-kant] / rɪˈkænt /


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

It was an odd statement, as it didn’t quite recant the story, which has been thoroughly debunked.

From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026

Years later, he said he was pressured by the FBI to recant his story.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2025

Later that the day, she appeared to recant the remarks in a state TV interview, warning that they should "not be misused".

From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2025

Generally, it’s unusual for a cooperating witness to recant testimony years after a trial.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 27, 2024

She’d had to tell him the charges she’d made and tried to recant when she was begging for his assistance.

From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo

“It recants some of the language in their letter, which I never adopted.”

From Washington Post ● Apr. 29, 2022

She fearfully recants, and is charged with false reporting.

From The Guardian ● Sep. 17, 2019

Faced with doubting, undermining and hounding, Marie recants her story, but the narrative only gets more complicated from there.

From New York Times ● Sep. 1, 2019

In the recording, the victim recants his accusations and blamed the issue on his parents.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 24, 2017

Sometimes though, for the women, they’re for a nun who recants.

From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood

“I respect the fact that you recanted everything you said,” he told Cohen, referencing his former fixer’s recent criticisms of Bragg and James.

From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2026

His guilt and the evidence on which he was convicted have been questioned over the years - namely after witnesses recanted their statements and another inmate later confessed to the murder.

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

Prevez later recanted the confession, his lawyer said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026

They recanted their damning testimony about the sunken-ship broadcast.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 21, 2025

After the sentencing, however, Ray recanted his guilty plea.

From "While the World Watched: A Birmingham Bombing Survivor Comes of Age during the Civil Rights Movement" by Carolyn Maull McKinstry

“DNA evidence, witnesses recanting their prior statements and polygraph testing all supported the ‘actual innocence’ claims of Jarvis Ballard,” district attorney Perry Nicosia wrote.

From Salon ● Aug. 10, 2026

Mandelson's comments go further than others in government in recanting previous criticism of Trump.

From BBC ● Jan. 29, 2025

That information, the recanting, was initially hidden from Glossip, and he only found out about it a few years ago.

From Slate ● Sep. 30, 2024

Majors’ attorney, Priya Chaudhry, told the Los Angeles Times on Sunday that her team has obtained “two written statements from the woman recanting these allegations.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2023

Owning, disowning, recanting, recharting a hateful course of events to make sense of her complicity.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver


Vocabulary lists containing recant

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