recuperate
Americanverb (used without object)
-
recuperates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
recuperated,
past participle, past
-
recuperating
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
recuperates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
recuperated,
past participle, past
-
recuperating
present participle
verb
-
(intr) to recover from illness or exhaustion
-
to recover (losses of money, etc)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
recuperatesimple
-
recuperatessimple
-
have recuperatedperfect
-
has recuperatedperfect
-
am recuperatingprogressive
-
are recuperatingprogressive
-
is recuperatingprogressive
-
have been recuperatingperfect progressive
-
has been recuperatingperfect progressive
Past
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recuperatedsimple
-
had recuperatedperfect
-
was recuperatingprogressive
-
were recuperatingprogressive
-
had been recuperatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of recuperate
First recorded in 1535–45; from Latin recuperātus (past participle of recuperāre, variant of reciperāre “to recover”), equivalent to re- re- + -ciper-, combining form of unattested caper- (obscure derivative of capere “to take”) + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
To recuperate is to get something back that you have lost — could be good health, or money lost in a bad investment. When you recuperate, you heal and recover. Recuperate comes from the Latin word recuperare “to take back,” so when you recuperate you gain something back that was yours before — health or money. Recuperate is usually something people do after an illness. If you break your knee playing rugby in college, you might go home to recuperate. If you don't want to sound fancy, just say you're recovering. It also means to get money back, so you can also try to recuperate your losses by staying in the poker game.
Vocabulary lists containing recuperate
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Essential Academic Vocabulary for Middle School Students, List 5
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Maus I: My Father Bleeds History
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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.
See Examples For:
It forced him to take a break so he could recuperate at home.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
Last month, he was moved to house arrest to recuperate after being hospitalized with bronchopneumonia.
From Barron's ● Apr. 30, 2026
Cheap Trick also spaces out dates when possible, giving members time to recuperate from the rigors of the road.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2026
In the aftermath of the Perth defeat, the first two-day Ashes Test for 104 years, England head coach Brendon McCullum highlighted the need for batters to give bowlers longer to recuperate.
From BBC ● Dec. 1, 2025
He came home with us to recuperate that spring.
From "How Dare the Sun Rise" by Sandra Uwiringiyimana
Once she recuperates, she plans to return to part-time consulting to keep her mind active and feel productive.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 31, 2026
The Player Kings X account posted the show would continue with Semark "while Ian McKellen recuperates following his fall", adding: "We look forward to Ian returning to the production."
From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2024
Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said he would ask the chamber this week to allow another Democratic senator to temporarily serve on the Judiciary Committee while she recuperates.
From Reuters ● Apr. 18, 2023
Norman Powell still isn’t back to the form that made the backup Clippers guard one of the team’s most dependable scorers for much of November as he recuperates from a groin injury.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 13, 2022
After that he rests for a fortnight and recuperates, and returns--to take up a will case turning upon the toy rabbits and suchlike trifles which entertained the declining years of a nonagenarian.
From What is Coming? by H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
While the dog recuperated, a woman arrived at the shelter later that day to report that her dog, Teddy, had been missing for more than a month.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
After Coronado recuperated, he marched east until the Spaniards encountered 12 Tiwa pueblos near present-day Albuquerque, N.M.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026
The Americans turned the screw in the third quarter as Auston Matthews recuperated a loose puck and set up Jake Guentzel, who blasted past Sogaard.
From Barron's ● Feb. 14, 2026
While they recuperated, there was no-one to keep her entertained.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2024
She had recuperated in the Birthing Unit for the first week, tended and checked—pampered a bit, actually, she realized.
From "Son" by Lois Lowry
One person close to him believed the time Buffett spent at home recuperating gave him an opportunity to contemplate the company’s future and the decision about when to step down.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026
As I was recuperating, he was diagnosed with an autoimmune condition, which meant he had to tap out indefinitely.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
Jin has been recuperating in the United States and spending time with his family, who relocated there as Zion came under pressure from authorities in 2018.
From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026
He reassured fans his surgery went well and last month has "been at home, recuperating, recovering and resting and getting some post-op treatment as well".
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
He sat in his basement headquarters, recuperating, while we crept around the house and Mommy walked about silently, eyes still red-rimmed, on edge.
From "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother" by James McBride
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.
