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
Derived Forms
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rejuvenationnoun
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rejuvenatornoun
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rejuvenativeadjective
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unrejuvenatedadjective
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unrejuvenatingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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rejuvenatesimple
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rejuvenatessimple
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have rejuvenatedperfect
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has rejuvenatedperfect
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am rejuvenatingprogressive
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are rejuvenatingprogressive
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is rejuvenatingprogressive
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have been rejuvenatingperfect progressive
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has been rejuvenatingperfect progressive
Past
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rejuvenatedsimple
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had rejuvenatedperfect
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was rejuvenatingprogressive
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were rejuvenatingprogressive
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had been rejuvenatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of rejuvenate
First recorded in 1800–10; re- + Latin juven(is) “young” + -ate 1; see also 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.
See Examples For:
But Ihm says he hopes that Stile will help rejuvenate the area and create an ecosystem that will support neighboring businesses as well.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
Analysts suggest Micron’s results could rejuvenate a stock-market rally, which has fueled wealthier Americans’ spending and concentrated risk.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026
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
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
We need a foreign-policy approach that rejuvenates our alliances and creates enduring and mutually beneficial ties around the world.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026
"Niacin treatment rejuvenates immune cells so they can do what they are supposed to do, attack and kill the cancer cells. I see it as an ongoing 'battle for the brain'."
From Science Daily ● Jun. 22, 2026
The gallery’s namesake is Nepantla, a Nahuatl word that means “in the middle,” which Prendez describes as the place where one heals, rejuvenates or creates.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 30, 2023
I like being in the water; it relaxes and rejuvenates me.
From New York Times ● Mar. 27, 2023
All my discoveries make headlines, but the most controversial is a soap that rejuvenates aging skin.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
Since then, that squad has been rejuvenated with exciting young talents - such as Henry Pollock, Freeman and Feyi-Waboso - while depth continues to be built.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
While some people were driven crazy by spending hours in proximity to family, Kahan was creatively rejuvenated.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 22, 2026
Seven-time champion Hamilton appears rejuvenated by the new 2026 cars, and seems back to something close to his previous form before the ground-effect cars of the past four years, with which he was never comfortable.
From BBC ● Mar. 14, 2026
Now, eight months after Brian Wilson’s death in June at age 82, a new box set looks back at the era as an expressive outpouring led by the band’s rejuvenated visionary.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 27, 2026
It was still a struggle to carry the boy, but with someone else to help I was rejuvenated.
From "Prisoner B-3087" by Alan Gratz
Product-development jobs have moved from Wolfsburg to China in a bid to rejuvenating its business there.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
A cohort of playwrights, breathtakingly diverse demographically as well as aesthetically, has been rejuvenating American theater.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
Ireland coach Andy Farrell also faces the task of rejuvenating an ageing squad.
From Barron's ● Nov. 30, 2025
The researchers also highlight betaine -- a metabolite produced in the kidney -- as an oral compound that can imitate many of the rejuvenating effects normally linked to physical activity.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 13, 2025
The first weeks of August brought rejuvenating rain.
From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson
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.
