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.
He created an elite US-trained police unit with expanded investigative and operational powers who patrol with military-grade weapons -- a model he would later recreate at the federal level.
From Barron's • May 10, 2026
“I feel like I’m trying to recreate this time that I never could quite understand.”
From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2026
A mechanical artwork first imagined in 1775 to recreate the eruption of Italy's Mount Vesuvius has been brought to life for the first time, 250 years after it was conceived.
From Science Daily • May 2, 2026
Some aspects of the site are so antiquated that it’s difficult to recreate.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 1, 2026
I recreate the same two-toned hair color with a deep scarlet and ash blond.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
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.
