recast
Americanverb (used with object)
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recasts,
present (3rd person singular)
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recast,
past participle, past
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recasting
present participle
noun
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recasts
plural
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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:
The character will be recast for Season 2 of HBO’s ‘Harry Potter’ TV show.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
Near the heavily fortified frontier dividing the Korean peninsula, the abandoned Woljeong-ri station is being recast as a symbol of South Korea's hopes to reconcile with the North.
From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026
We need to stop thinking of college as a time to find oneself and recast it as a period of intellectual development that precedes our more formative mid- to late 20s.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026
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
Then the scene could be recast, through Cecilia’s eyes, and then Robbie’s.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
Jumping around in time, “Franz” frequently recasts straightforwardly staged scenes from his life into twisted, surreal parables while occasionally checking in on contemporary Prague and its Kafka tributes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
“You Wished for This” careens from ponderous ambience to shredded digital noise; The two parts of “Love is in the Air” recasts the yearning of a classic Hollywood love theme into a blood-soaked rictus grin.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
The study also recasts homeobox gene TPRX2 thatencodes DNA-binding proteins.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 6, 2024
It’s a striking act of imagination that recasts her earlier research with new emotional power.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 6, 2022
To how many faith has been No evidence of things unseen, But a dim shadow that recasts the creed of the Phantasiasts.
From We Two, a novel by Edna Lyall
When respondents were asked about recasting their votes, only 84% replied they would vote again for the president.
From Salon ● Apr. 28, 2026
The response is as stark as the crisis: recasting its industrial base as the West’s arsenal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 20, 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
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
Hamilton was a musical celebration of America’s history and diversity, recasting our understanding of the roles minorities play in our national story, highlighting the importance of women who’d long been overshadowed by powerful men.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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.
