rejuvenate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to make young again; restore to youthful vigor, appearance, etc..
That vacation has certainly rejuvenated him.
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to restore to a former state; make fresh or new again.
to rejuvenate an old sofa.
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Physical Geography.
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to renew the activity, erosive power, etc., of (a stream) by uplift or by removal of a barrier in the stream bed.
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to impress again the characters of youthful topography on (a region) by the action of rejuvenated streams.
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verb (used without object)
verb
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to give new youth, restored vitality, or youthful appearance to
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(usually passive) geography
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to cause (a river) to begin eroding more vigorously to a new lower base level, usually because of uplift of the land
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to cause (a land surface) to develop youthful features
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Other Word Forms
- rejuvenation noun
- rejuvenative adjective
- rejuvenator noun
- unrejuvenated adjective
- unrejuvenating adjective
Etymology
Origin of rejuvenate
First recorded in 1800–10; re- + Latin juven(is) “young” + -ate 1; young
Explanation
When you make something young again or give it more life and energy, you rejuvenate it. For example, you can often rejuvenate a not-quite-dead plant, bringing it back to health with some water and some TLC. One way to remember the word rejuvenate is to pick it apart to its heart, the juve. This juve sounds like juvenile — which refers to youth. Add the prefix re, which means "again," and the "ate" suffix, which stands for "do or make." Put them all together and you get "make young again" — the meaning of rejuvenate. We all want to be younger, as witnessed by all the ads for products that promise to rejuvenate us through special cosmetics or foods or exercise equipment.
Vocabulary lists containing rejuvenate
Brave New World
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100 SAT words Beginning with "R"
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Prisoner B-3087
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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.
Scott hopes this shuttling around of his stem cells, a procedure that costs patients $10,000, will rejuvenate his 82-year-old body and ward off the effects of aging.
From Slate • Mar. 30, 2026
Nepali student leader-turned-politician Gagan Thapa has sought to rejuvenate his party's stale image, campaigning on generational change ahead of the Himalayan nation's first elections since a deadly youth-led uprising.
From Barron's • Feb. 27, 2026
Dermal fillers are injectable substances, commonly used to target wrinkles and smooth or "rejuvenate" the skin.
From BBC • Dec. 3, 2025
Keenan Allen’s return to the Chargers has helped rejuvenate the offense and has shown the rest of the NFL he’s still a game-changer at age 33.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 26, 2025
Spirits flurried around inside her to rejuvenate whatever damage had been done as she rose and took an uneasy step forward.
From "Shadowshaper" by Daniel José Older
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.
