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:
Watch a century-old lighting company recreate a neon color that was lost as businesses switched to LED.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
“Los Angeles has been through so much over the past several years, but the city is resilient. You simply can’t recreate this city anywhere else, and I’m excited to bring Cher home.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
That feeling can be strangely difficult to recreate at home.
From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026
To better recreate the conditions inside an injured joint, the researchers relied on fibronectin fragments, molecules generated as damaged tissue breaks down, instead of using only conventional laboratory methods to trigger inflammation.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 12, 2026
Some, like the Hattiesburg clan, were organized, finding a concentration of homes where they could settle down together and recreate their community from down south.
From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield
In the museum's recreated listening rooms, visitors can hear actors reading out some of the conversations.
From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026
To investigate the process, the researchers recreated conditions found inside a volcano using magma collected from the Tajogaite eruption.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 1, 2026
He’s not trying to convince himself that Paris can be recreated beside four lanes of Bakersfield traffic.
From Salon ● Jun. 30, 2026
A historic Glasgow building which was destroyed in a major fire has been recreated in miniature by an artist.
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026
For from this almost Nothing I have very nearly recreated the entire universe, which contains everything!
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Rather than recreating a ship with computer-generated images, Nolan wanted a real one, capable of sailing on the open sea with flesh-and-blood men aboard.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
I prefer parchment paper for the first layer, which allows the bread to breathe and avoids recreating the clammy condensation routine of the airport sandwich.
From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2026
MarketWatch spent the better part of a day recreating it.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026
Burton's lab studies dusty plasma and similar materials by recreating them in controlled experiments.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 23, 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.
