Recanting

The act of withdrawing, retracting, or renouncing a previously held belief, statement, or position. It often implies a formal announcement in which one disavows a particular conviction or endorsement, typically in response to pressure, new evidence, or a change in perspective.

Recanting meaning with examples

• After years of firmly supporting the controversial policy, the politician faced mounting criticism and decided on recanting his previous statements, acknowledging that the policy had detrimental effects on the community.
• In a dramatic twist, the scientist began recanting his earlier results, admitting that his experimental design was flawed and that further studies had contradicted his findings.
• During the trial, the witness was coerced into recanting his testimony, which originally supported the defendant's claims, raising concerns about the integrity of legal proceedings.
• The author released a statement recanting her earlier comments on social media, clarifying that they were taken out of context and did not represent her true beliefs on the subject.