recast
Americanverb (used with object)
noun
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a recasting.
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a new form produced by recasting.
verb
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(often foll by as) to give (someone or something) a new role, function, or character
recast themselves as moderate and kind
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(often foll by as) to cast (an actor or actress) again or in a different part
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to cast new actors or actresses for a production of (a play, film, etc)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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recastsimple
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recastssimple
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have recastperfect
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has recastperfect
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am recastingprogressive
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are recastingprogressive
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is recastingprogressive
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have been recastingperfect progressive
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has been recastingperfect progressive
Past
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recastsimple
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had recastperfect
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was recastingprogressive
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were recastingprogressive
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had been recastingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of recast
Explanation
"Let's start over." That's what someone might say when he or she needs to recast something, meaning "to make major changes that make something seem very different or even brand new." When you recast something, you aren’t just improving it slightly — something that is recast typically involves significant changes to the original. As it applies to actors' parts in a movie, television show, or play, to recast a part means finding a different actor to play it. When you recast a metal item, like a piece of jewelry, the item is melted down completely and then remade in a new form. When teachers get blank stares from students, they recast their questions to make them less confusing.
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.
See Examples For:
These days, the prevailing style of curmudgeonry is either nakedly bigoted or, like this one, an extended straw-man argument recast as a bold, brand-new revelation: Heterosexuality is good?
From Salon ● Jun. 3, 2026
Källenius’s comments come as the German manufacturing sector, which has been largely stagnant for years, seeks to recast itself as a major player in the West’s defense arsenal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
A decade ago, Hüller’s kooky Cannes hit “Toni Erdmann” was rewarded by the announcement that Paramount was going to do a remake and recast her part with Kristin Wiig.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2026
In the face of this criticism, Sheinbaum used her daily news conference on Friday to recast the announcement as subject to further review.
From BBC ● May 9, 2026
That same year, another event forced me to recast my whole approach to political work.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
Her confidante immediately hastens off to write “The Tears of the Comet,” an allegorical tale that decorously recasts certain incidents from his stay.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026
The play, which radically recasts the fraternal relationship, developed far beyond its originating impetus.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 10, 2025
The study also recasts homeobox gene TPRX2 thatencodes DNA-binding proteins.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 6, 2024
The Mexican writer Enrigue recasts the fateful meeting between Hernán Cortés and the Aztecs in this hallucinatory novel, translated by Natasha Wimmer.
From New York Times ● Feb. 1, 2024
But it recasts these elements with the vigour of a true art and in accordance with its special tendencies.
From The Romanization of Roman Britain by Haverfield, F. (Francis)
When respondents were asked about recasting their votes, only 84% replied they would vote again for the president.
From Salon ● Apr. 28, 2026
RidgeAlloy is made by remelting aluminum recovered from used products and recasting it into a new alloy designed to meet the strength, ductility and crash safety requirements of structural vehicle components.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 10, 2026
But the biggest recasting of all might be what is happening in the ninth inning.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2025
Playwrights addressed the polis not by dramatizing current events but by recasting tales from the mythological and historic past to sharpen critical thinking on contemporary concerns.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2025
They’re like movies I edit and embroider and watch over and over again, regularly recasting the villains and updating the minor details.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
