resurrect
Americanverb (used with object)
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resurrects,
present (3rd person singular)
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resurrected,
past participle, past
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resurrecting
present participle
-
to raise from the dead; bring to life again.
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to bring back into use, practice, etc..
to resurrect an ancient custom.
verb (used without object)
-
resurrects,
present (3rd person singular)
-
resurrected,
past participle, past
-
resurrecting
present participle
verb
-
to rise or raise from the dead; bring or be brought back to life
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(tr) to bring back into use or activity; revive
to resurrect an ancient law
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(tr) to renew (one's hopes, etc)
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facetious (tr) (formerly) to exhume and steal (a body) from its grave, esp in order to sell it
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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resurrectsimple
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resurrectssimple
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have resurrectedperfect
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has resurrectedperfect
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am resurrectingprogressive
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are resurrectingprogressive
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is resurrectingprogressive
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have been resurrectingperfect progressive
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has been resurrectingperfect progressive
Past
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resurrectedsimple
-
had resurrectedperfect
-
was resurrectingprogressive
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were resurrectingprogressive
-
had been resurrectingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of resurrect
First recorded in 1765–75; back formation from resurrection
Explanation
To resurrect is to bring someone back from the dead. You can also resurrect things that are inactive or out of use. If you've ever seen someone bring a dead person back to life in a science fiction or fantasy movie, you saw them resurrect someone. Turning someone into a zombie or vampire is a type of resurrecting, and in the Bible Jesus resurrects Lazurus. Also, this word can apply to any kind of revival. A song can resurrect faded memories. A forgotten project can be resurrected if you start it up again. Resurrecting always involves bringing something back to life.
Vocabulary lists containing resurrect
The Roman and Byzantine Empires, Lessons 1–2
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for September 11–September 17, 2021
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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:
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s immediate rejection of the idea brought Kushner back into the mix to see if he could resurrect a little of that old Kissinger magic.
From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2026
When Antonio Filosa, a company veteran, became Stellantis chief executive last year, one of his first decisions was to resurrect the V-8 engine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
Researchers have found that the only way to resurrect the small-cap effect is to focus on small-cap stocks that are at the quality end of the “quality-versus-junk” spectrum.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 30, 2026
As such, he’s a step out of sync with contemporary kids’ filmmakers who tend to chase trends or resurrect the retro toys of their own youth.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
Unfortunately, this theory would also retroactively outlaw choreograph, diagnose, resurrect, edit, sculpt, sleepwalk, and hundreds of other verbs that have become completely unexceptionable.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
The film resurrects the story of sisters Sally and Gillian Owens, modern day witches who face a curse that sees any man they fall in love with doomed to an early death.
From Barron's ● Sep. 13, 2026
It resurrects the controversial so-called "Highway to Hel" bus journey formerly run by local company PKS Gdynia.
From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2026
In a later chapter, Toscano resurrects another ‘70s radical, the Italian literary critic Furio Jesi, whose extraordinary insights into the “religion and mythology of death” in right-wing culture were entirely new to me.
From Salon ● Jan. 21, 2024
Cellulose: Made from up to 85% recycled paper and paper waste, cellulose resurrects old paper from the dead to keep your creepy cottage comfortable.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 20, 2023
Babe hid and resurrected chewing-gum as instinctively as a dog hides and resurrects his bones.
From Hidden Creek by Katharine Newlin Burt
Doss died suddenly in 2012, and the project was tabled, only to be resurrected by members of the band’s circle in the wake of a recent documentary about the E6 collective.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026
"Caleb resurrected a statistical technique from a bygone era," said co-author Jacques Gauthier, a professor of Earth and planetary sciences at Yale and curator-in-charge for vertebrate paleontology at the Peabody Museum.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 25, 2026
See also "what's the point?" and "do we need another one?" whenever a story is resurrected from the past.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
What we have here might be an example of the Tinkerbell effect, named for the “Peter Pan” character who could be resurrected from death by audience participation, i.e. belief in fairies.
From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2026
But tonight, the Gladers ate like dead men resurrected for one last meal before being sent to live with the devil.
From "The Maze Runner" by James Dashner
He joked it should be renamed after him and spent considerable time discussing Washington, D.C. construction projects and resurrecting conspiracy theories about monument vandals.
From Salon ● Nov. 2, 2026
He continued: "We're definitely interested in whether by resurrecting or engineering some enhanced antimicrobial peptides, we could use these as therapeutics down the road."
From Science Daily ● Sep. 28, 2026
The cost of Gary, Ind.’s blight elimination campaign, which includes demolishing part of the downtown, securing investment from local employers and resurrecting dormant neighborhoods.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
The BBC's filling the gap on iPlayer by resurrecting classic sets from its archive - from Radiohead in 1997 to Olivia Rodrigo last year.
From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026
Perhaps not, she thinks, perhaps it is a personality phenomenon: the real Yolanda resurrecting on an August afternoon above the kempt green lawns of this private facility.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
