rehabilitate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
rehabilitates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
rehabilitated,
past participle, past
-
rehabilitating
present participle
-
to restore to a condition of good health, ability to work, or the like.
-
to restore to good condition, operation, or management, as a bankrupt business.
- Synonyms:
- refurbish, reconstruct, recondition, restore, salvage
-
to reestablish the good reputation of (a person, one's character or name, etc.).
-
to restore formally to former capacity, standing, rank, rights, or privileges.
verb (used without object)
-
rehabilitates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
rehabilitated,
past participle, past
-
rehabilitating
present participle
verb
-
to help (a person who has acquired a disability or addiction or who has just been released from prison) to readapt to society or a new job, as by vocational guidance, retraining, or therapy
-
to restore to a former position or rank
-
to restore the good reputation of
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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nonrehabilitationnoun
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rehabilitationnoun
-
rehabilitatornoun
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nonrehabilitativeadjective
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rehabilitativeadjective
-
unrehabilitatedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
rehabilitatesimple
-
rehabilitatessimple
-
have rehabilitatedperfect
-
has rehabilitatedperfect
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am rehabilitatingprogressive
-
are rehabilitatingprogressive
-
is rehabilitatingprogressive
-
have been rehabilitatingperfect progressive
-
has been rehabilitatingperfect progressive
Past
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rehabilitatedsimple
-
had rehabilitatedperfect
-
was rehabilitatingprogressive
-
were rehabilitatingprogressive
-
had been rehabilitatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of rehabilitate
1570–80; < Medieval Latin rehabilitātus, past participle of rehabilitāre to restore. See re-, habilitate
Explanation
If you have been in a bad accident or have an addiction problem, you may go away for a stretch of time to rehabilitate yourself or, in other words, bring yourself back to health. Though we hear a lot about rehabilitation or "rehab" in the press in connection with drugs or alcohol, the word rehabilitate has a lot of other meanings. You can rehabilitate a building's structure by reinforcing it with steel beams, or rehabilitate your bad reputation by staying after school to help clean up the grounds.
Vocabulary lists containing rehabilitate
"A Retrieved Reformation" by O. Henry
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Word Generation Social Studies - Complex Questions Related to American Democracy
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Frightful's Mountain
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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:
"It's a very old idea," he says, noting that net pens have been used to rehabilitate injured wild whales, or temporarily used while re-introducing captured orcas back into the wild.
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026
Schmitt: I’m glad you’re trying to rehabilitate the witness, but it’s not your time.
From Slate ● Sep. 29, 2026
Jakarta has also been in touch with conservation NGOs to help rehabilitate the baby orangutans, the ministry statement added.
From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026
Blair, whose IMDb site lists dozens of movies and television shows dating back to 1968, founded her foundation in 2003 to rehabilitate and rescue abandoned and abused animals.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
The twins thought they had been trying hard, and Jackson in particular, feeling he was still in disgrace in the Tallis household, thought he might begin to rehabilitate himself by pleasing Briony.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
The author rehabilitates the Greek Arachne—unfairly condemned to be a spider because of her creative ability—then returns us to Spider Woman and Spider Grandmother, the kindly, creative beings who bring life and wisdom to humankind.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
Its return will be “empowering” and restore “hope” as it supercharges conservation efforts and rehabilitates a vital piece of Māori cultural heritage.
From Slate ● Aug. 8, 2025
Lotus Lamb & Sheep Sanctuary rehabilitates animals rescued from extreme cases of neglect and abuse.
From BBC ● Mar. 23, 2025
A mountain regional park and a conservation center that rescues and rehabilitates wildlife are also nearby.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 29, 2023
It is this personal EXPERIENCE, this exaltation, this sense of immediate, non-intellectual revelation, of mystical oneness with all things, that again and again rehabilitates a ritual otherwise moribund.
From Darwin and Modern Science by A. C. (Albert Charles) Seward
His attorney Michael Beckman once called Davis “the most rehabilitated inmate I’ve ever represented.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
He said that members of the royal family have survived media hostility before and rehabilitated their image: Camilla as the “other woman” in Charles’s marriage to Diana, and Charles as the unfaithful husband.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
This looked like a humiliation ritual to me: Crowley wasn’t polling competitively even when he was actively campaigning, and it seemed unlikely that his brand could be rehabilitated with such little time left.
From Slate ● Aug. 17, 2026
The party rehabilitated him in the wake of Mao's death, tapping him for jobs at the Ministry of Petroleum and State Economic Commission.
From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026
I had rehabilitated myself and at the same time restored my own regard for him and the Thembu roval house.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
Veterans groups and advocates who shaped the 2016 draft plan contend the housing was tacked on to allow the VA to avoid the cost of rehabilitating the building.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
At the time, the organization was engaged in rehabilitating its image and getting back into Hollywood’s good graces.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
Ligon grew up in Ethel and spent summers during college rehabilitating wildlife in Costa Rica and Louisiana.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026
The Zambian segment of the Lobito Corridor -- often described as the missing link -- is not on LAR's near-term agenda, he added, citing the scale and cost of rehabilitating the rail infrastructure.
From Barron's ● May 7, 2026
This Circle needs to know that Peter Driscal is not rehabilitating well, either physically or emotionally.
From "Touching Spirit Bear" by Ben Mikaelsen
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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.
