Definition of "uncancel"
uncancel
verb
third-person singular simple present uncancels, present participle uncanceling or uncancelling, simple past and past participle uncanceled or uncancelled
(transitive) To take back, undo the act of canceling (someone or something).
Quotations
Any clown with social media followers and moral self-laudation can cancel someone. […] No, I don’t cancel. I uncancel. And I’m a better public servant because of it. No one is remembered for what he got, only for what he gave. So, let he who is without sin cast the first tweet. The rest of us are busy working together to make our union just a little bit more perfect, despite our imperfections.
2020, Matt Gaetz, Firebrand: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the MAGA Revolution, Bombardier Books, Post Hill Press
It’s Time to Uncancel Americans / February 17, 2021 / This week, actress Gina Carano made headlines when Disney+ and Lucasfilm decided to cancel her from their hit series “The Mandalorian” over controversial social media posts.
2021 February 17, Ben Shapiro, If It Ain’t Woke, Don’t Fix It, Hermosa Beach, Calif.: Creators Publishing, published 2022
“By the end of that week more than 30 galleries ‘uncancelled,’” he said, noting that despite all the grousing over “fair fatigue,” there was still no digital substitute for buying and selling art in the flesh.
2021 November 24, Brett Sokol, quoting Marc Spiegler, “Art Basel Miami Beach Returns, Smaller but Ready to Party”, in The New York Times
Because today the punishment is often coming from the outside, instead of within a small village, offending influencers may be less amenable to accepting their punishment; they may not want to have another group’s values imposed on them. More voices can lead to more ambiguity and more conflict. After all, who gets to decide what constitutes a crime and what constitutes the punishment? Further, how can the canceled become the uncanceled?
2023, Caroline Baker, Don Baker, “Cancel This! Influencers React to Cancel Culture and Deplatforming”, in An Influencer’s World: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Social Media Influencers and Creators, University of Iowa Press, page 152