unsaying

verb

present participle of unsay
as in renouncing
to solemnly or formally reject or go back on (as something formerly adhered to) the witness tried to unsay the very testimony that he had given a few days earlier

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for unsaying
  1. renouncing
  2. withdrawing
  3. retracting
  4. denying
  5. contradicting
  6. taking back
  7. repealing
Verb
  • Irma is not going to resolve her dilemma by having sex or cutting loose, nor by renouncing such pastimes and doubling down on intellect.
    — B. D. McClay, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Although economic espionage is not without risk, unilaterally renouncing the practice in the current global environment is far more dangerous.
    — DAVID S. COHEN, Foreign Affairs, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of renouncing
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
Verb
  • With styling that’s part Art Deco, part Steampunk, and part contemporary elegance, the Supersport comes with the choice of either a removable composite-hardtop roof or a retracting mohair soft-top setup.
    — Viju Mathew, Robb Report, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Vivo and Oppo phones have relied on various gimmicks, like smaller gimbals and pop-out lenses, to improve camera performance, though not to the extent of a physically retracting gimbal.
    — Florence Ion, PC Magazine, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of retracting
Verb
  • Her husband, Conor, has gone on the record denying any involvement in her death.
    — Kelsie Cairns , Adam Sabes, FOXNews.com, 21 Oct. 2026
  • The latter predicts a single universe by denying the universal validity of Schrödinger’s equation.
    — Philipp Strasberg, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of denying
Verb
  • The contradicting geological and orbital observations for Phobos and Deimos collected to date have prevented scientists from definitively establishing one hypothesis over the other.
    — Josh Dinner, Space.com, 18 Oct. 2026
  • His argument would have been laughable, if not for the fact that Black Americans were barred from giving testimony against white people in California’s courts and therefore from contradicting Smith’s account.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of contradicting
Verb
  • At the start of 2026, Democrats taking back the House and running competitively for the Senate across a daunting map might have been seen as a rousing recovery from the Party’s poor state two years ago.
    — Susan B. Glasser, New Yorker, 22 Oct. 2026
  • The county voted to remove BSO Fire Rescue from the sheriff and is considering taking back security for the airport and seaport, the jail and 911 center.
    — Norgan Rynor, Miami Herald, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of taking back
Verb
  • The lawmakers argued that repealing the credits while major projects were still under construction would jeopardize investments already underway and the jobs tied to them.
    — Kayla Morton, The Conversation, 19 Oct. 2026
  • The Trades Council endorsed the campaign for repealing the law, according to Ballotpedia, while Schmidt spent heavily to defend it.
    — Andrew Graham, Sacbee.com, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of repealing
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.

Browse Nearby Words

unsayable
unsaying
unsays
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Cite this Entry

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

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