reactivate
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
Other Word Forms
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 government has provided funding to reactivate the Ensus bioethanol plant, which makes CO2 as a by-product, in order to shore up supplies of the gas.
From BBC • Apr. 25, 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
Instead, he is looking to reactivate one of his nonprofit’s programs that brings Venezuelan students to the U.S. to learn about democratic systems.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 3, 2026
"Injecting economic resources into affected families helps reactivate the local economy," he says.
From BBC • Oct. 1, 2025
Piper had no idea how to reactivate him.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
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.
