reinvent

American  

[ree-in-vent] / ˌri ɪnˈvɛnt /

verb (used with object)

reinvents, present (3rd person singular) reinvented, past participle, past reinventing present participle

1. to invent again or anew, especially without knowing that the invention already exists.

2. to remake or make over, as in a different form.

   At 60, he reinvented himself as a volunteer. We have an opportunity to reinvent government.

3. to bring back; revive.

   to reinvent trust and accountability.

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reinvent British  

/ ˌriːɪnˈvɛnt /

verb

1. to replace (a product, etc) with an entirely new version

2. to duplicate (something that already exists) in what is therefore a wasted effort (esp in the phrase reinvent the wheel )

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• reinvention
  noun

Inflected Forms

Participles

• reinventing
  present
• reinvented
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• reinvent
  simple
• reinvents
  simple
• have reinvented
  perfect
• has reinvented
  perfect
• am reinventing
  progressive
• are reinventing
  progressive
• is reinventing
  progressive
• have been reinventing
  perfect progressive
• has been reinventing
  perfect progressive

Past

• reinvented
  simple
• had reinvented
  perfect
• was reinventing
  progressive
• were reinventing
  progressive
• had been reinventing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will reinvent
  simple
• will have reinvented
  perfect
• will be reinventing
  progressive
• will have been reinventing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of reinvent

First recorded in 1685–90; re- + invent

Explanation

To reinvent something is to completely change or remake it so thoroughly that it seems brand new. The driverless car is going to reinvent the way people think about driving. When the earliest movies with sound were released, it seemed to reinvent film. And, when libraries started incorporating more technology and getting rid of card catalogs, they reinvented research. You can also literally reinvent something, by bringing it back: "They plan to reinvent their grandmother's lost recipe for homemade root beer." To "reinvent the wheel" means to do something redundantly — to waste time on something that's already been done.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

reinvent reinvents reinvented reinventing

A Bay Area startup is trying to reinvent the semitruck by making the gas-guzzling giants electric, autonomous and designed for efficiency.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 21, 2026

From screwdrivers to weapons, there is no need to reinvent existing tools.

From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2026

“One hundred percent of the world’s PC industry has joined us to reinvent the PC,” Huang said in his speech.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 1, 2026

"Microsoft and Nvidia are going to reinvent the PC," Nvidia's chief executive Jensen Huang said in Taipei as he launched the RTX Spark chip ahead of Computex, a major technology show.

From Barron's ● Jun. 1, 2026

Abolish the apostrophe and it will be necessary, before the hour is up, to reinvent it.

From "Eats, Shoots & Leaves" by Author

When Guardiola reinvents his system, changes are made based on the players he has rather than a predetermined idea of what system he wants to play.

From BBC ● Dec. 27, 2025

Holz: It is an execution story at this point, as the company kind of reinvents itself with a number of difficult-to-predict crosscurrents in the background.

From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2025

Garcia takes Mexican standards including tacos, carnitas and sopes and reinvents them with local produce as well as flavors from other cultures, such as pesto, pate sucrée and hazelnuts.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2024

From Mark Twain to John Steinbeck, every generation reinvents the King Arthur legend for itself.

From Seattle Times ● May 14, 2024

While Venia reinvents my eyebrows and Octavia gives me fake nails and Flavius massages goo into my hair, I hear all about the Capitol.

From "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins

IBM has reinvented itself many times, transitioning from tabulators and time clocks in its earliest days to personal computers, mainframes and supercomputers and later AI and hybrid cloud computing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026

Jackson is a former social conservative who has reinvented himself into what he calls a “pickup-truck progressive.”

From Slate ● Jul. 11, 2026

She was a household name even before she reinvented herself as a reality TV star, with a high profile spell on Strictly Come Dancing, known for her forthright views and no-nonsense attitude.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

He has since reinvented himself as a business-oriented leader and a favourite on the international scene, recently hosting French President Emmanuel Macron for a major African summit.

From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026

Surrounded by alphabets he could not understand, he instead independently reinvented a syllabary, unaware that the Minoans of Crete had already invented another syllabary 3,500 years previously.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

It feels like we’re reinventing ourselves every year.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026

Yet even for a place that’s constantly reinventing itself, raves were mostly uncharted terrain.

From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2026

There were celebrity chefs reinventing Ukrainian cooking to create haute cuisine based on traditional dishes—and using only ingredients grown in Ukraine.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 2026

And although their styling feels modern, the musicians are keen to stress they're not reinventing the wheel - BIIRD's sound remains rooted in Irish tradition, albeit with a contemporary twist.

From BBC ● May 16, 2026

I had been so busy sitting there moping and feeling lonely that I’d nearly forgotten my commitment—well, plan, at least—to try reinventing myself this year, to not be such an outcast.

From "Winger" by Andrew Smith

Related Words

• remake
• revive