recoil
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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Redirecting each photon creates a tiny recoil force, similar in principle to the recoil produced when a bullet is fired.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 18, 2026
We recoil at AI-generated music, art and writing—expressions of critical thinking, creativity and soul that have been replaced by a machine’s data aggregation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
Years have turned over since the social recoil of 2020.
From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026
He smiled after I busted him for looking, which made me recoil in horror and quickly dart over to hide in the pet food aisle.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
She pulls me toward her as I recoil.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
Having fashioned a creature from dead body parts, the scientist recoils from the result, which appears to him to be a monster of “unparalleled barbarity,” and abandons his construction.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 16, 2026
He practices a politics of inspiration, and the Surge recoils at politicians who try to inspire us.
From Slate ● Apr. 5, 2025
Although Watkins has been the center of attention since middle school, when Gottlieb started hearing whispers of an eighth-grade phenom on the recruiting circuit, Watkins recoils when asked about her success.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 30, 2023
Viewers raved over Beharie's work in "White Noise," which is certainly excellent, especially in the scene where she simply recoils, wordless, as she takes in the vile digs anonymous commenters get in at her expense.
From Salon ● Sep. 24, 2023
Brother Khoi recoils, vowing to never eat anything with wings.
From "Inside Out and Back Again" by Thanhha Lai
I’ve always recoiled at having dinner on a first date.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 23, 2026
Walking into his kitchen, Tim Yoder recoiled at a message on his refrigerator door: “Shop Samsung water filters.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 23, 2026
The manager turned off the vacuum, recoiled hoses and exhaled with relief.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 23, 2025
By that point, Layan had forgotten her completely, Omama says, and recoiled when they met.
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2025
Major Sanderson recoiled as though he had been slapped.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
Americans are recoiling at rising restaurant and coffee prices and eating out less, making Starbucks’s turnaround more challenging.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2025
De Guzman, who also curated an art show called “Roots of Cool” about trees, noted that Los Angeles seems to actually shrink during the hotter months, as if recoiling from the sun.
From Slate ● Jul. 23, 2025
“Swim in it? Me?” said retiree Patrice Desrousses, 64, recoiling ever so slightly as he paused in his promenade beside the storied waterway.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2024
What I'm suggesting is that our mass recoiling at Sara Ramirez's Che Diaz on "And Just Like That…" may be misdirected.
From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2023
Collectively recoiling from the native population of the Americas, Europeans learned how to become a new version of themselves.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Vocabulary lists containing recoil
The Lingo of Body Language
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List 7
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