RECEDES Synonyms: 117 Similar and Opposite Words

recedes

verb

present tense third-person singular of recede

as in subsides

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in withdraws

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 recedes Waseca County Sheriff Jay Dulas said no injuries were reported, but the extent of the damage remains unclear as water slowly recedes. — Jason Rantala, CBS News, 20 Sep. 2026 Meanwhile, the narrator neither recedes nor reveals any substantial personal information. — The Week Us, TheWeek, 15 Sep. 2026 The frame tightens, and the world outside the characters recedes. — Henry Metz, Rolling Stone, 11 Sep. 2026 Desertification, a process where vegetation recedes because of high heat and low rainfall, threatens much of the Great Hungarian Plain. — ABC News, 29 Aug. 2026 Aromas grow more tannic with time as the fruit recedes into the background—except for apricot, which remains pronounced throughout. — David Thomas Tao, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2026 As the water recedes from the floods, Indianapolis officials, business owners and residents have begun assessing the damage. — Jen Guadarrama, IndyStar, 20 Aug. 2026 Ford is among the few filmmakers who succeeds in filming a stage performance with visual attention (a combination of duration and framing) that sustains literary continuity yet never recedes to mere home-video-like recording. — Richard Brody, New Yorker, 19 Aug. 2026 The New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife said dogfish and other small sharks commonly forage close to shore during the summer and can become trapped near sandbars as the tide recedes, according to ABC6. — Anthony Thompson, USA Today, 14 Aug. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for recedes

Verb

Chadchart said despite the heavy rain, flooding should recede once the rain subsides, as city officials are working to drain floodwaters as quickly as possible.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 26 Sep. 2026
Ideally, those refugees would remain in human care for years or even decades until the mussel invasion subsides.

— CBS News, CBS News, 8 Sep. 2026

Definition of subsides

Verb

Popular airline withdraws from three locations, leaving travelers with fewer routes.

— , FOXNews.com, 15 Oct. 2026
Investopedia made a state-by-state set of estimates for a single retiree who collects the average Social Security benefit of $1,975 a month and withdraws 4% of savings a year.

— Jim Edwards, Fortune, 9 Oct. 2026

Definition of withdraws

Verb

Pyrad works by instantaneously thickening when exposed to fire, forming a char that diminishes heat exposure, extinguishes flames, and decreases the risk of third-degree burns.

— Derek Rose, Time, 15 Oct. 2026
By effectively raising the threshold in the playoffs, the NFL acknowledges that over-officiating diminishes the product and that marginal penalties should not decide its most important games.

— Bobby Burack OutKick, FOXNews.com, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of diminishes

Verb

But even as the characters reflect at length on the virtue of putting themselves out there, their series too often retreats within itself instead.

— Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 12 Oct. 2026
Olivia Studio60, Womack Studios, Disney+ A celebrity TV weatherman retreats with his daughter to his estranged father’s olive groves, reopening old wounds.

— Emiliano de Pablos, Variety, 11 Oct. 2026

Definition of retreats

Verb

Pyrad works by instantaneously thickening when exposed to fire, forming a char that diminishes heat exposure, extinguishes flames, and decreases the risk of third-degree burns.

— Derek Rose, Time, 15 Oct. 2026
The peak height of the histogram decreases as the number of tosses, N, gets larger.

— Dana Mackenzie, Scientific American, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of decreases

Verb

Figure 02 leaves the fleet Figure’s newer platform also arrives as the company retires its predecessor.

— Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 19 Oct. 2026
Furthermore, if a Republican justice retires should Democrats win the Senate, the move will almost certainly be viewed as purely partisan.

— The Conversation, The Conversation, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of retires

Verb

When a dog bolts into a canyon or vanishes under heavy tree cover, most tracking collars lose the signal.

— Joe Mullich, Time, 15 Oct. 2026
And as always, at the top level, the sport is dependent upon manufacturer largesse, something that usually vanishes in the face of worsening economic outlooks.

— Jonathan M. Gitlin, ArsTechnica, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of vanishes

Verb

When carb intake falls sharply, the liver turns fat into ketones, an alternative fuel for the brain and other tissues that may cause less metabolic stress.

— Rowan Jacobsen, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
Bangladesh’s experience shows the challenge of containing an outbreak when vaccination coverage falls below 95%, a level the WHO says is needed to prevent outbreaks.

— Reuters, NBC news, 19 Oct. 2026