readjust
Americanverb (used with object)
-
readjusts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
readjusted,
past participle, past
-
readjusting
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
readjustsimple
-
readjustssimple
-
have readjustedperfect
-
has readjustedperfect
-
am readjustingprogressive
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are readjustingprogressive
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is readjustingprogressive
-
have been readjustingperfect progressive
-
has been readjustingperfect progressive
Past
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readjustedsimple
-
had readjustedperfect
-
was readjustingprogressive
-
were readjustingprogressive
-
had been readjustingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of readjust
Explanation
You could readjust your TV antenna, your thinking, or the collar of your shirt. Whatever it is, when you readjust something, you make slight changes again and again until you get it right. When you adjust something, you make a change in order to improve something, such as a driver adjusting the side-view mirror on a car in order to see other cars better. So, when you add the prefix re-, it means "to adjust over and over." In the case of the mirror, you would readjust its angle until you can see perfectly well from your seat in the car.
Vocabulary lists containing readjust
Power Prefix: re-
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Prefixes: re-
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Power Prefix: Re-
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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:
Jon Long, a chip shop owner in Wimborne, Dorset, charges just over that and said he has had to readjust prices but is "looking at revisiting portion sizes."
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
After that there would be new rounds of negotiations to readjust cuts every two years.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2026
“It makes sense for Asian markets—and all markets—to readjust because we are now in a level of uncertainty I can’t remember seeing—and that is greater than during Covid,” Gave said.
From Barron's ● Mar. 9, 2026
But sportsbooks can suspend wagering or halt bettors’ ability to cash out of winning bets—which often happens precisely at game-changing moments, as bookmakers readjust the odds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2025
The problem was that my heart, veins, and arteries had gotten used to weightlessness and needed a little while to readjust to gravity.
From "Flying to the Moon: An Astronaut's Story" by Michael Collins
Here are some of the things to watch as the oil market readjusts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
Strategic petroleum reserves designed to calm markets after a major supply shock may remain unused because the market calms and readjusts on its own.
From Barron's ● Nov. 20, 2025
The little help he’s able to offer when he readjusts a fallen flag makes his day.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 26, 2024
As he readjusts his pyjamas, his left hand reveals three missing fingers.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2023
Auguste's mother, Duchesse Georgiana, readjusts the crown on Charlotte's head and admires the glittering scepter in her lap.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
Downgrading the highly symbolic parade, which has already been readjusted in recent years, is a blow to that political strategy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 29, 2026
By the time they finally readjusted, and dropped deeper in the second half, the damage had been done, as Match of the Day pundit Thomas Hitzlsperger noted.
From BBC ● Feb. 18, 2026
But that history is constantly being readjusted and reconfigured depending on the narrator’s state of mind and the different versions they’re confronted with when they bump up against other people’s memories and narratives.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 4, 2025
Most other income-driven repayment plans, where payments are readjusted each year based on earnings and household size, forgive any remaining balance after a set number of years, usually 20.
From New York Times ● Jan. 12, 2024
There was nothing I could do for Sir Fig Newton until I was back at home, so I readjusted my focus to dragging my parents away from the event horizon with my mood-music hypothesis.
From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas
The market might not be imploding so much as readjusting as the tech industry succumbs to more realistic expectations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
In light of the still-ongoing backlash, one may reasonably wonder whether Sony made a severe miscalculation here, and whether it may end up listening to the fans and readjusting accordingly.
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026
“Investors are readjusting their risk budget right now in a risk-off mood on Friday, and that the AI momentum is now becoming AI anxiety,” said Brian Mulberry, chief market strategist at Zacks Investment Management.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 27, 2026
Current economic policymakers could "hardly guide the work of readjusting the country's industry as a whole and upgrading it technologically", Kim warned.
From Barron's ● Jan. 20, 2026
“Nothing that ain’t already happened,” I say, talking to the ground and readjusting the rucksack.
From "The Knife of Never Letting Go" by Patrick Ness
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
