recuperate
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
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
-
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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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.
Last month, he was moved to house arrest to recuperate after being hospitalized with bronchopneumonia.
From Barron's • Apr. 30, 2026
So she said they flew her in from Houston and once gave her gas money to drive, putting her up in a hotel for two weeks to recuperate along with two of her children.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 31, 2025
The Kigali course was a brutal loop that offered little chance to recuperate.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 10, 2025
Soccer’s technical, medical and high-performance staffs, he choose to rest and recuperate during the final summer before the World Cup.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 7, 2025
But the fact that I survived physically, that in a time period well into my fifties I never collapsed or needed time off to recuperate, is something I am inordinately proud of.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
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.
