recreation
Americannoun
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refreshment by means of some pastime, agreeable exercise, or the like.
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a pastime, diversion, exercise, or other resource affording relaxation and enjoyment.
noun
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refreshment of health or spirits by relaxation and enjoyment
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an activity or pastime that promotes this
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an interval of free time between school lessons
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( as modifier )
recreation period
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Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of recreation
1350–1400; Middle English recreacioun (< Middle French recreation ) < Latin recreātiōn- (stem of recreātiō ) restoration, recovery, equivalent to recreāt ( us ) ( see recreate) + -iōn- -ion
Explanation
The word recreation is a noun meaning just about anything you do for fun: bowling, flying a model airplane, or just swimming the English Channel. If you do it to relax, recharge your batteries, or just to amuse yourself, it's probably recreation. You might think by looking at the word that recreation means remaking something, and, in a sense you'd be right. A person involved in recreation is "re-creating" themselves. The whole point of recreation, as the original Latin word recreare implies, is to refresh and renew. After a week behind a desk, you might be feeling worn down and tired. A weekend of recreation will help bring you back to life. So get out there and do the things you love to do!
Vocabulary lists containing recreation
One Crazy Summer
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"Handle with Care"
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Sports and Hobbies
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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.
A project to transform a recreation ground into a wildflower meadow has taken another step forward.
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026
Fielder shrewdly pairs the recreation with footage of Seyfried reading the script for the first time, intercutting between the two.
From Salon ● Oct. 25, 2026
Sports and recreation scores climbed from 15 to 36, indicating improvements in more physically demanding activities.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 14, 2026
Invented in the 1960s, jet skis ushered in either a glorious era in human recreation or an ongoing tragedy of our watery commons, depending on who you ask.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026
In addition to the regular school sessions and the recreation program, classes of every kind were being offered all over camp: singing, acting, trumpet playing, tap-dancing, plus traditional Japanese arts like needlework, judo, and kendo.
From "Farewell to Manzanar" by Jeanne Houston
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
