reinstate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
reinstates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
reinstated,
past participle, past
-
reinstating
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
reinstatesimple
-
reinstatessimple
-
have reinstatedperfect
-
has reinstatedperfect
-
am reinstatingprogressive
-
are reinstatingprogressive
-
is reinstatingprogressive
-
have been reinstatingperfect progressive
-
has been reinstatingperfect progressive
Past
-
reinstatedsimple
-
had reinstatedperfect
-
was reinstatingprogressive
-
were reinstatingprogressive
-
had been reinstatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of reinstate
Explanation
When you reinstate someone, you return that person to a position or job. A principal might reinstate a laid off teacher when the school starts hiring again. Bosses can reinstate employees, countries can reinstate kings and queens, and governments can reinstate, or bring back, old laws. For example, during times of war the United States could very well reinstate the draft, which is not currently a law but has been in the past. Although it's not as common as reinstate, the word instate, from which it comes, means "to put someone in a certain state or condition."
Vocabulary lists containing reinstate
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
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The Unteachables
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This Week In Culture: August 8–14, 2020
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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:
Carney will also need buy-in from provincial premiers to reinstate the sale of US alcohol, as liquor sales are controlled by the provinces, not the federal government.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
Orsted said it plans to reinstate dividend distributions for 2026, with the first distribution next year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
As a result, she has asked that the court reinstate the manslaughter charge against Brooks.
From Salon ● Aug. 10, 2026
Officials have since launched Section 301 investigations, including on forced labor, to reinstate duties.
From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026
During the last few days of April, Mother Lois had humbled herself to make several trips to North Little Rock’s school headquarters to plead for her job, but they had refused to reinstate her.
From "Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High" by Melba Pattillo Beals
The bank reinstates coverage of St. Barbara with an outperform recommendation and a target of A$0.96/share.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
Even if the president reinstates most levies, the Treasury might have to refund what it has already collected.
From Barron's ● Feb. 21, 2026
That language clearly reinstates any federal employee who was either told they’d be laid off during the shutdown or actually laid off.
From Slate ● Dec. 22, 2025
The Heisman Trust reinstates the trophy to Reggie Bush and USC, three years after the era of forbidding college athletes from receiving compensation ended.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2024
You are going to join us and make one of Sherwood's merry men till his Majesty returns and reinstates you as the rightful Earl of Huntingdon.
From Operas Every Child Should Know Descriptions of the Text and Music of Some of the Most Famous Masterpieces by Mary Schell Hoke Bacon
The Cal State faculty union ruled earlier this summer that she must be reinstated as a tenured professor.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
WASHINGTON—Attorney General Todd Blanche is launching a new process that allows individuals who lost their gun rights because of felony convictions to apply to have them reinstated.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
The fifth player, Alex Formenton, was also deemed to have broken conduct rules, but is now being reinstated.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
At the end of April, the group said it had reinstated a regional parliament, which had been deemed illegitimate.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
President Gerald R. Ford officially reinstated Lee as a U.S. citizen in 1975.
From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly
If Fedorov and Syrskiy can’t work together, then reinstating Fedorov would require dismissing his top general, whom he handpicked for the job.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
“These problems, they have to be addressed, but you don’t address them by reinstating the SAT,” Birnir said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
Powering today’s rally is a renewed sense of optimism from Wall Street, with Bank of America analyst Tal Liani reinstating coverage of the stock on Monday with a buy rating and a $130 price target.
From MarketWatch ● May 18, 2026
ALAV's Loaiza is confident that reinstating connectivity will encourage other US companies to relaunch strategic routes -- particularly from Houston, which is vital for the oil industry.
From Barron's ● Apr. 30, 2026
Before going to bed for the night, I wrote letters to my four just expelled students, reinstating them.
From "Nine Stories" by J. D. Salinger
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.
