SYNONYMS AND RELATED EXPRESSIONS
recant
verb
To formally withdraw a previously stated belief or claim.
Local English device voice, when available. This is not a recorded dictionary pronunciation.
Withdraw a stated belief
Closest synonyms
Related words and expressions
These extend or explain the idea and may require a different sentence structure.
Usage distinction
Return to topRecant concerns a belief or claim previously held or stated. Renounce and repudiate can reject something without a prior public commitment.
CHECK THE MEANING IN CONTEXT
See recant in use
The witness chose to recant the mistaken identification.
A volunteer tried to rebut the claim that the smaller room would take less time by describing the extra stands it required. Photographs could refute the narrower assertion that all four walls were available for hanging work, since one entire wall was blocked by fixed shelving. The proposer then chose to recant that assertion in the meeting record.
Compare an alternative with the original word in each passage. Shared meanings do not make every pair interchangeable.
Synonym reference scope and sources
The groups distinguish the senses selected for this study entry. Closest synonyms and broader related expressions have separate labels. The listed sources support lexical selection; not every phrase is a direct quotation from a source.
How the synonym reference was prepared / WordNet 3.0 license