reactivate

American  

[ree-ak-tuh-vayt] / riˈæk təˌveɪt /

verb (used with object)

• reactivates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• reactivated,
  past participle,  past
• reactivating
  present participle

1. to render active again; revive.

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verb (used without object)

• reactivates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• reactivated,
  past participle,  past
• reactivating
  present participle

1. to be active again.

reactivate British  

/ rɪˈæktɪˌveɪt /

verb

1. (tr) to make (something) active or functional again

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• reactivation
  noun

Inflected Forms

Participles

• reactivating
  present
• reactivated
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• reactivate
  simple
• reactivates
  simple
• have reactivated
  perfect
• has reactivated
  perfect
• am reactivating
  progressive
• are reactivating
  progressive
• is reactivating
  progressive
• have been reactivating
  perfect progressive
• has been reactivating
  perfect progressive

Past

• reactivated
  simple
• had reactivated
  perfect
• was reactivating
  progressive
• were reactivating
  progressive
• had been reactivating
  perfect progressive

Future

• will reactivate
  simple
• will have reactivated
  perfect
• will be reactivating
  progressive
• will have been reactivating
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of reactivate

First recorded in 1900–05; re- + activate

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Explanation

Whether it’s a slumping economy, a gym membership you let expire, or a feature on your phone that you shut off by accident, when you reactivate something, you put it back into action. In reactivate the prefix re- means "again." Added to the word activate, meaning "start," reactivate means "start again." If your email account has been shut down because of a password error, for example, you would contact tech support to reactivate it, or if you used to be part of a group that has stopped meeting, you might call the other members to see if they are interested in reactivating it, meaning start it back up.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

reactivate reactivates reactivated reactivating

A Panamanian government commission on Wednesday recommended that President Jose Raul Mulino reactivate Central America's largest open-pit copper mine, a Canadian-owned operation that was shut down in 2023 following widespread protests.

From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026

Rather than appearing to reactivate because the immune system had been suppressed, these viruses seemed to become active in response to inflammation.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026

“It will also reactivate portions of the maritime industrial base that are easier to scale.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

The lawyer says it is imperative to reactivate civil registry offices in accessible areas and intensify legal efforts to ensure children obtain their right to identity and legal recognition.

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026

Piper had no idea how to reactivate him.

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan

It is not yet clear whether it works by broadly stimulating the immune system, by reducing how often the varicella-zoster virus reactivates, or through another pathway entirely.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 3, 2025

When she reactivates, having observed the animals for some long period, she’s able to communicate with them, though they’re terrified of her.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2024

"If you ever log on to your account for any reason, even accidentally, because it is an app on your phone it reactivates and then sends a new order," she said.

From BBC ● Mar. 14, 2024

Next, the researchers compared these fish’s gastrointestinal tracts with those of fish they had injected with pieces of messenger RNA encoding an enzyme that reactivates the disabled telomerase gene in the gut.

From Science Magazine ● May 18, 2023

After a person recovers from chickenpox, the virus can remain dormant in the body for many years, until it reactivates and becomes shingles.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 24, 2023

“The facilities remain in the Fed’s toolbox and can be reactivated as needed,” the team wrote in an Aug. 14 client note.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026

Within the first 40 days after patients were admitted to the hospital, the researchers identified 11 reactivated viruses.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026

Water had saturated the mica schist and reactivated the old landslide.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

Geo Group has agreed to house thousands of detainees at company prisons in New Jersey, Michigan and Georgia that weren’t in use, and it has reactivated an ICE processing center in California.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 20, 2026

A count of five later, the lights flickered on, and the crash bracelets steadied her as the board reactivated, rising smoothly up under her feet with reassuring solidness.

From "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld

The United States is in the process of reactivating its embassy in Caracas.

From Barron's ● Jun. 13, 2026

In the lab, epigenetic editing would be used to remove methyl tags from the fetal globin gene, reactivating it.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 5, 2026

Termination was never automatic after 13 strikes, and there was no evidence Cox ever terminated a subscriber’s account without reactivating it.

From Slate ● Nov. 28, 2025

Sable, however, said it remains steadfast in its goal of reactivating the Santa Ynez Unit — a complex of three offshore platforms, onshore processing facilities and connecting pipelines.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2025

The damage must prevent the sight shield from reactivating.

From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins

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Related Words

• revive

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