reinterpret
Britishverb
Other Word Forms
Explanation
If you re-examined the meaning of something and found something new or different, you reinterpreted it. You thought that when Brian said, "I love you," he meant as a friend, but you may want to reinterpret the meaning of those words since he bought you a diamond ring. The verb reinterpret also means to re-explain or interpret from a different point of view. Each year, historians try to reinterpret the primary source material in historical cases. For example, in 1892, Lizzie Borden's father and step-mother were killed with an ax. Lizzie was acquitted. Did she commit the crime? Well, historians examine and reexamine the evidence and interpret it and reinterpret it. Some think she did it and some think she was innocent. We may never know.
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.
"Ants, for example, this year are only available for customers who specifically ask to try them," said Atala, whose Sao Paulo restaurant D.O.M. plucks ingredients from the Amazonian wilderness to reinterpret Indigenous traditions.
From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026
Mr. Millepied’s urge to reinterpret for contemporary audiences Prokofiev’s often heavy-going score, which the composer created under the thumb of Soviet censors, seems more than understandable.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 9, 2026
And while there’s also a lot of personality emanating from the chrome hearts, no one onstage is trying to reinterpret the songs from outside their known, established frameworks.
From Salon ● Aug. 19, 2025
“The Penguin” arrives on TV just as King’s “The Penguin” comic wraps its run, but it shows how even after 80 years of storytelling, there are still ways to stretch and reinterpret the iconic villain.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2024
There had been time to reinterpret everything, obliterating the natural lines of cleavage in the world, and substituting moral lines of cleavage for them.
From Three Philosophical Poets Lucretius, Dante, and Goethe by George Santayana
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
