recreate
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of recreate
1425–75; late Middle English recreaten < Latin recreātus (past participle of recreāre to create again, revive), equivalent to re- re- + creātus; see create
Explanation
To recreate means to give new life to something, to redo, or remake it. Say you become a billionaire and you grow tired of your mansion, try recreating your childhood home on your estate, so you can retire modestly. To recreate literally means to create over. If the mural you painted on the outside of your home was damaged in a flood, you might want to recreate it with waterproof paint. Recreate can also mean reimagine. If you become the principal of your old high school, you could throw out the old subjects and recreate high school education as everlasting game day. Recreate can also mean to play — it gives us the word recreation.
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:
"I experienced that at the World Championships in Liverpool last year. That's the moment I want to recreate here."
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
Within the exhibition halls, a bedroom, living room and kitchen -- complete with a glass jug, coffee pot, and spice containers -- recreate details of daily life in the homes of southern Lebanese residents.
From Barron's ● Jul. 19, 2026
Hence, this gem of an anthology series, wherein real-life residents recount the stories that made them regionally famous or nationally infamous, while familiar actors and comedians recreate their stories.
From Salon ● Jul. 1, 2026
"Psychoanalysts refer to the tendency in the mind to recreate familiar relational patterns, even when these are poorly adapted," says Stänicke.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 1, 2026
“They’re trying to make you recreate his formula,” she said.
From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo
He’s not trying to convince himself that Paris can be recreated beside four lanes of Bakersfield traffic.
From Salon ● Jun. 30, 2026
To investigate how this damage occurs, the researchers recreated the physical challenges faced by developing neurons.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 21, 2026
The attraction -- "The Beatles at 3 Savile Row" -- will feature seven floors of never-seen-before archive material and a recreated basement studio where the Fab Four recorded their 1970 "Let It Be" album.
From Barron's ● May 11, 2026
Del Vaz Projects and Frieze hosted a party that recreated Arnold’s otherworldly home, once likened to Andy Warhol’s Factory.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 5, 2026
She’s recreated the dish Mama taught us in cooking club.
From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan
MarketWatch spent the better part of a day recreating it.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026
The vote was widely derided by democracy monitors abroad, but China supports it as recreating a semblance of normality, analysts say.
From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026
But recreating the fiber was only part of the achievement.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 12, 2026
While transplanted hair can already grow, recreating follicles that can behave like the natural hair inside the body - repeatedly growing, shedding and regrowing over time - has proved far more difficult.
From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2026
Finally, she tried her own drawings freehand, looking closely at the fragrant blooms, recreating their soft petals with washes of watercolor.
From "The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science" by Joyce Sidman
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.
