recoil
Example Sentences
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We recoil at AI-generated music, art and writing—expressions of critical thinking, creativity and soul that have been replaced by a machine’s data aggregation.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
Although the resulting recoil force is extremely small, it acts continuously over millions of years.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 25, 2026
A look I can only describe as Dauntless mania enters his eyes, but rather than recoil from it, as I might have a few weeks ago, I catch it, like it’s contagious.
From "Divergent" by Veronica Roth
At the end of “The Return,” when Fiennes stands entrail-smeared before his beloved Penelope, she recoils from the horror of the battlefield brought right into their home.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
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
Historically, when the connection between power and principles is stretched so thin as to be no longer plausible, the public recoils.
From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2023
When she sees his number appear, she recoils, as if she’s just seen a poisonous creature.
From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti
Washington, by contrast, recoiled at the very notion of monarchy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 27, 2026
As an unknown theater actor, Reiner recoiled when strangers pegged him merely as “Carl Reiner’s son.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 15, 2025
By that point, Layan had forgotten her completely, Omama says, and recoiled when they met.
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2025
Whenever a stranger gingerly held out a hand for a sniff, he recoiled.
From Slate ● Sep. 4, 2025
It was natural that their minds leaped on and recoiled, and they would not speak of that, but their minds said, There can’t be any world without Samuel.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
But when the pressure heightens and matters boil over between the quartet, Wilde carefully examines the resulting eruption instead of recoiling.
From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026
He said: "I said what I said back in February, I am not recoiling from that."
From BBC ● May 10, 2026
Economic uncertainty has tempered demand among even the wealthiest clients who had lifted sales for years, while aspirational shoppers are recoiling from persistent price increases.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 18, 2026
We’ll see if voters can reward this one while recoiling.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2025
“Excuse me?” she says, recoiling, like she can smell his coffee breath.
From "Shine!" by J.J. and Chris Grabenstein
Vocabulary lists containing recoil
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List 7
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