reprise
Americannoun
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reprises
plural
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Law. Usually reprises. an annual deduction, duty, or payment out of a manor or estate, as an annuity or the like.
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Music.
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a repetition.
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a return to the first theme or subject.
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verb (used with object)
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reprises,
present (3rd person singular)
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reprised,
past participle, past
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reprising
present participle
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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reprisesimple
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reprisessimple
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have reprisedperfect
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has reprisedperfect
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am reprisingprogressive
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are reprisingprogressive
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is reprisingprogressive
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have been reprisingperfect progressive
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has been reprisingperfect progressive
Past
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reprisedsimple
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had reprisedperfect
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was reprisingprogressive
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were reprisingprogressive
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had been reprisingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of reprise
1350–1400; Middle English < Middle French: a taking back, Old French, noun use of feminine past participle of reprendre to take back < Latin reprehendere to reprehend
Explanation
Reprise means "repeat an earlier role." If you’re asked to reprise your role as "kid entertainer" at the annual family reunion, that means people want you to do it again this year. Early on, reprise was a part in a song or other musical composition that is repeated. The word still carries that meaning, but now it's more likely to be used as a verb to describe an action or part that is repeated, often a performance. For example, if you played a role in a wildly successful film that is going to have a sequel, you would reprise your role. The word comes from the French word repris, meaning "take back."
Vocabulary lists containing reprise
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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This Week In Popular Culture: August 17–23, 2019
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This Week In Culture: August 1–6, 2020
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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:
Carapaz, who rides for Vaughters’s EF team, again proved his mettle as a veteran mountain goat, taking a pair of wins including a reprise of Alpe d’Huez on Saturday.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
The National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art, venue for the fashion show being held later on Thursday, will also host a reprise of the famous 1985 museum exhibition by Lagerfeld.
From Barron's ● Jul. 9, 2026
Now we await a reprise of her jeans and white T-shirt red carpet look from last year.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
Ned Dennehy and Packy Lee are set to reprise their roles from the series, and Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man.
From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026
When she was getting close to retiring, the opera decided to reprise her role one last time.
From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman
Holland reprises his role as Peter Parker and his superhero alter-ego in the latest instalment, while Zendaya plays his onscreen love interest, MJ.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
Dwayne Johnson reprises his role as demigod Maui, while the titular heroine will be played by newcomer Catherine Laga’aia.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026
Anya Taylor-Joy reprises her role as Princess Peach, and Wednesday star Luis Guzmán plays Wart - the main enemy from 1988 NES game Super Mario Bros 2.
From BBC ● Apr. 1, 2026
Australia's Samara Weaving reprises her starring role in the sequel, which sees her forced once again to run a gauntlet, this time against multiple families.
From Barron's ● Mar. 22, 2026
This rumbling, turbid, angry little rivulet, flows through evergreens and flowering underwood, and is crossed a plusieures reprises, by logs thrown from rock to rock.
From Domestic Manners of the Americans by Fanny Trollope
The young-and-old distinction of legendary Barcelona centre-back duo Puyol and Pique has been reprised in this tournament through Laporte and Cubarsi.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
She reprised the show on Broadway two decades later, but for the latest iteration, presented by Lincoln Center Theater off-Broadway, Ms. Goldberg is staying offstage.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
His charisma made him a worthy inheritor to the role of Dr. Frank-N-Furter in stage productions of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” which he reprised several times over the years.
From Salon ● Jun. 12, 2026
He reprised the role of the famous boxer for the sequel in 2018 and again in 2023 for Creed III in which he made his directorial debut as well as starring in it.
From BBC ● Mar. 16, 2026
Buckingham House was reprised by a bargain with the public for one hundred thousand pounds; and the small house at Windsor has been, if I mistake not, undertaken since that account was brought before us.
From The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 02 (of 12) by Edmund Burke
The fourth series he’s produced this year, this “Yellowstone” spinoff has Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser reprising their roles and doing battle against a rival rancher in South Texas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 10, 2026
Even with all four main players from the original cast reprising their roles, and Aline Brosh McKenna and David Frankel returning to write and direct, respectively, none of this merit was guaranteed.
From Salon ● May 1, 2026
Later this year, Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser will star in “Dutton Ranch,” reprising their respective “Yellowstone” roles as John Dutton’s volcanic daughter Beth Dutton and her husband, boss ranch hand Rip Wheeler.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 1, 2026
Following on from Steven Knight's acclaimed TV drama series, the trailer shows Oscar winner Cillian Murphy reprising his role as flat cap-wearing criminal gang leader Tommy Shelby, returning to Birmingham during World War Two.
From BBC ● Feb. 19, 2026
"Then through here—" Miss Avery continued passing and reprising through the hall.
From Howards End by E. M. (Edward Morgan) Forster
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.
