RECEDING Synonyms: 159 Similar and Opposite Words

receding 1 of 3

adjective

as in retrogressing

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receding

2 of 3

noun

as in hanging

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Dissimilar Words

receding

3 of 3

verb

present participle of recede

as in subsiding

to grow less in scope or intensity especially gradually the sound of sirens receded as the fire engines roared off into the distance

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in retreating

to move back or away (as from something difficult, dangerous, or disagreeable) after the rain stops, the floodwaters should gradually recede

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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 receding

Verb

Neeley said the floodwaters were receding but left mud and silt, much of which has been contaminated with sewage because of failures at waste plants. — ABC News, 25 Oct. 2026 In the Farmington area of New Mexico, local officials said that swollen rivers were receding but that many people remained evacuated and hundreds were without power. — Anna Wilder, Los Angeles Times, 25 Oct. 2026 Nighttime mouth breathing is associated with snoring, dry mouth, receding gums and sleep apnea, a disorder in which breathing stops repeatedly during sleep. — Samantha Agate, Charlotte Observer, 24 Oct. 2026 The Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky is perhaps the greatest chronicler of that era of scale, which stretched across the long twentieth century and only now shows the first signs of receding. — Bill McKibben, The New York Review of Books, 17 Oct. 2026 Oil is high, but not that high and the risk with Iran has been receding with oil prices coming down. — Stephen Messer, Fortune, 16 Oct. 2026 There is a lot of money in the market, but some of it appears to be receding and the number of commissions is coming down. — Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 7 Oct. 2026 Borasov’s patchy hair, already receding into lines of code when the movie first introduces Sutskever at the age of 17. — David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 6 Oct. 2026 The dense blocks of flats receding in Shawn’s side-view mirror were bathed in warm orange light. — Rachel Heng, New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for receding

Adjective

The girl with a backpack on could be seen crossing the street while looking at her phone before the stopped truck began moving beside her, in videos obtained by ABC station WPVI and CBS station KYW.

— Desiree Anello, PEOPLE, 16 Sep. 2026
The crash drew a crowd from the stopped traffic, who quickly spread photos and videos of the driver on social media.

— Irene Wright, USA Today, 9 Sep. 2026

Definition of stopped

Noun

There are visceral descriptions of the hanging of Benito Mussolini and his mistress Clara Petacci.

— Terrence O'Brien, The Verge, 25 Oct. 2026
One witness, Rachel Abbott, who was five years old at the time said she was plagued by nightmares for the rest of her life after seeing the hanging.

— Dr. Michael Good, Hartford Courant, 22 Oct. 2026

Definition of hanging

Verb

Multiple Kelvin waves These waves can bring elevated sea levels for weeks at a time, eventually subsiding before the next wave hits.

— Zoe Mintz, CBS News, 6 Sep. 2026
Two of them coincide with areas where satellite radar shows that the ground is actively subsiding.

— Nolan Roth, Scientific American, 23 Aug. 2026

Definition of subsiding

Verb

Many have reacted by retreating, focusing on cultivating niche audiences.

— Max Tani, semafor.com, 25 Oct. 2026
Longtime collaborator Erik Blood foregrounds Butler’s dry drum machines in the mix, letting every other element shuffle around them, snaking toward the spotlight for a brief moment and retreating back into the brume.

— Dash Lewis, Pitchfork, 23 Oct. 2026

Definition of retreating

Verb

In these situations, withdrawing into a literal or symbolic dark room—avoiding sources of stress and going to a safe place—can be adaptive in the short term.

— Maia Szalavitz, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
After two decades of war, the US military was withdrawing from Afghanistan, and Kabul was falling.

— Azadeh Moaveni, Vanity Fair, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of withdrawing

Noun

Among the relics of its decline is a hulking complex of rusted pipes, towers and conveyor belts in Delano, just five miles north of the McFarland chipping yard.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 21 Oct. 2026
The stock was down -7% in premarket trading Wednesday, to under $64/share, a decline of nearly 30% year-to-date to the lowest point since August 2024.

— Todd Spangler, Variety, 21 Oct. 2026

Definition of decline

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“Receding.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/receding. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of receding

adjective

noun

verb

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