reactivate
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
reactivatesimple
-
reactivatessimple
-
have reactivatedperfect
-
has reactivatedperfect
-
am reactivatingprogressive
-
are reactivatingprogressive
-
is reactivatingprogressive
-
have been reactivatingperfect progressive
-
has been reactivatingperfect progressive
Past
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reactivatedsimple
-
had reactivatedperfect
-
was reactivatingprogressive
-
were reactivatingprogressive
-
had been reactivatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of reactivate
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.
Vocabulary lists containing reactivate
Just Do It: Act
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Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for November 5–November 11, 2022
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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.
The experts warned that dormant mould spores could reactivate when the overbudget and delayed facilities finally open, posing a health hazard for the lifetime of the buildings.
From BBC • Mar. 19, 2026
This “”will inevitably reactivate the trauma of some victims…some of whom are not necessarily known to us,” she said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 20, 2026
During REM sleep, scientists replayed the soundtracks linked to half of the unsolved puzzles to selectively reactivate those memories.
From Science Daily • Feb. 15, 2026
Kimmel also pretended to open a statement written for him to read aloud by Disney, before reading out the words: "How to reactivate your Disney+ subscription".
From BBC • Sep. 24, 2025
In the months that followed the Fukushima Daiichi meltdown, when other reactors around Japan went offline for maintenance, the government withheld approval for them to reactivate.
From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland
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.
