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View synonyms for reformatory

reformatory

adjective

  1. serving or designed to reform: reformatory punishments.

    reformatory lectures;

    reformatory punishments.



noun

, plural re·form·a·to·ries.
  1. Also called reform school. (no longer in official use) a penal institution for reforming young offenders, especially minors. juvenile detention center.

reformatory

/ -trɪ; rɪˈfɔːmətərɪ /

noun

  1. Also calledreform school (formerly) a place of instruction where young offenders were sent for corrective training Compare approved school
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


adjective

  1. having the purpose or function of reforming
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Other Words From

  • pre·re·form·a·to·ry adjective
  • pseu·do·re·form·a·to·ry adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of reformatory1

First recorded in 1580–90 reformatory fordef 1; in 1750–60 reformatory fordef 2; reform ( def ) + -atory ( def ).
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Example Sentences

The YPA’s most famous alumnus, Bronx orphan Harry Eisman, was elected as head of the International Children’s Congress in Moscow while he was held in a New York reformatory.

The state reformatory was abandoned, and scheduled for demolition once the film was finished.

The Panopticon By Jenni Fagan A teenage heroine is sent to a reformatory in this dystopian novel.

Opposite him is Jack, whose previous experience in a reformatory has "put him wise," as he expresses it.

The answer is plain: as in other reformatory institutions, there will be some successes and some failures.

Massachusetts is charged with the support of a great number of charitable and reformatory institutions.

We miss, too, in the prison, another essential element of a reformatory institution.

In other parts of France, as well as in Barn, Jeanne's reformatory movements were looked upon with great disfavor.

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reformationReform Bill