Synonyms of backpedal

backpedal

verb

as in to backtrack

Synonyms & Similar Words

• backtrack
• retract
• recant
• disavow
• chicken (out)
• foreswear
• recall
• withdraw
• take back
• unsay
• forswear
• renege
• abjure
• repudiate
• wimp out
• back down
• back out
• cop out
• back off
• abnegate
• beg off
• cry off
• fink out

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• adhere (to)
• keep
• fulfill
• satisfy
• comply (with)
• honor
• follow through (with)
• fulfil

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of backpedal

Image Trump aides backpedaled on his Gaza plan President Trump’s surprise proposal that the U.S. take over Gaza, driving nearly two million Palestinians out, shocked even senior officials at his own White House. —Natasha Frost, New York Times, 6 Feb. 2025

Russia will have to backpedal on its adversarial and hostile stance toward the U.S., and Putin’s apparently good relations with Trump could also make that far easier. —Holly Ellyatt, CNBC, 13 Feb. 2025

Namely, making a downhill defender have to turn on a dime and sprint uphill, backpedaling between wing and prayer. —Sean Keeler, The Denver Post, 3 Feb. 2025

But Kennedy and Gabbard are obviously trying to backpedal just enough to get confirmed without any true change in their worldviews. —The Editors, National Review, 31 Jan. 2025