reformatory
Americanadjective
noun
-
reformatories
plural
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of reformatory
First recorded in 1580–90 reformatory for def. 1; in 1750–60 reformatory for def. 2; reform ( def. ) + -atory ( def. ).
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:
Mariona's memory of telling this story to the youngsters in her family is blurred, she believes as a result of the psychiatric "treatment" she was forced to undergo at the reformatory.
From BBC ● Nov. 15, 2025
In the film about two teens in a reformatory school, the camera becomes the point-of-view of a couple of characters, while other characters look directly into the lens.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 17, 2024
He ended up getting sent to a borstal, a reformatory for young offenders.
From Salon ● Feb. 20, 2023
Many of the incarcerated men said they view the reformatory as one of the safest prisons in Washington State — and credit University Beyond Bars, also known as UBB.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 6, 2022
Impertinence to a teacher was almost a reformatory offense in Brooklyn.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
As a teen, Clayton-Thomas lived on the streets and passed through a series of jails and reformatories.
From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026
In 1972, in a controversial action that would bring sweeping changes to juvenile corrections across the United States, Dr. Miller began shutting down Massachusetts’s reformatories.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 15, 2015
In examining the state child-care system in Ireland, the series brought to light a Dickensian network of reformatories and residential schools for poor, neglected and abandoned children known as industrial schools.
From New York Times ● Jan. 12, 2012
The result -- for Mayan, at least -- was a three-year odyssey through various ultra-Orthodox reformatories and foster families.
From Salon ● Feb. 18, 2010
Among other educational foundations may be mentioned a number of industrial schools, reformatories and private schools of a good class.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Slice 7 "Bible" to "Bisectrix" by Various
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.
