verb
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to restore (something) to good condition
to renovate paintings
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to revive or refresh (one's spirits, health, etc)
Usage
What does renovate mean? Renovate most commonly means to make improvements or changes to a structure, especially to the inside of a home or other kind of building. For example, a homeowner might renovate a room in their house by painting it and getting new flooring. This is often much more extensive: renovating a kitchen can involve getting new cabinets and appliances as well as new painting and new flooring, perhaps even a new layout. Some people renovate their homes themselves, while others hire a contractor to do it. The process of renovating is called renovation. The word renovation can also refer to such a project, as in This renovation is going way over budget. The word renovated can be used as an adjective to describe spaces that have been improved in this way, as in a newly renovated kitchen. More generally, renovate means to restore something to good condition—to repair or refurbish it. However, outside of the context of home improvement, the terms restore, refurbish, and repair are more often used. Renovate can also mean to reinvigorate, refresh, or revive, but this sense of the word isn’t commonly used either. Example: I’m planning to renovate the bathroom with new tile and a new vanity.
Synonym Usage
See renew.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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renovationnoun
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renovatornoun
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renovatableadjective
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renovativeadjective
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unrenovatedadjective
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unrenovativeadjective
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renovatinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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renovatesimple
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renovatessimple
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have renovatedperfect
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has renovatedperfect
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am renovatingprogressive
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are renovatingprogressive
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is renovatingprogressive
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have been renovatingperfect progressive
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has been renovatingperfect progressive
Past
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renovatedsimple
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had renovatedperfect
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was renovatingprogressive
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were renovatingprogressive
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had been renovatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of renovate
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English (adjective), from Latin renovātus (past participle of renovāre ), equivalent to re- re- + novus new + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
To renovate means to renew or rebuild so that something is in good condition. When you move into an old house, you will probably want to renovate the kitchen and bathrooms. Most usages of the word renovate revolve around buildings and architecture. During a generation change in a neighborhood, retired people move out and young families move in. They want to give new life to the old house they have bought so they renovate it by painting, redoing the floors, etc. If you renovate a historic building, you restore to its original splendor. Think of this sense of renewal if something renovates your spirits.
Vocabulary lists containing renovate
Brand Spankin' New: Words with Neo- and Nov-
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Power Prefix: re-
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The Westing Game
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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:
In 2010, they reportedly spent $28 million to extensively renovate the estate, which boasts 310 feet of private shoreline and a private boathouse.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
Nike also agreed to design “custom uniform collections” for the USC men’s and women’s basketball programs and to renovate the USC Bookstore.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
For years, Canada has debated whether to renovate 24 Sussex, knock it down and build something new or erect a new residence elsewhere in Ottawa.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
“People buy homes from one company, finance them through another, furnish them through a third and renovate them with someone else,” Bed Bath & Beyond CEO Marcus Lemonis said in a statement.
From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026
I tracked down the owner of the abandoned house, and once the papers were all signed and it was mine, I arranged for Marcus to help me renovate.
From "The Marvels" by Brian Selznick
Prices may go up as supply contracts, insurance payments flood in, and investment renovates buildings to code; prices may go down as rising premiums and maintenance fees get tacked on.
From Slate ● Oct. 9, 2024
Since 2022 Trixie's also had her own show on Discovery+, Trixie Motel, which follows the drag queen as she renovates a motel in California.
From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2024
Beyond the Carter Center, the couple became the most famous volunteers for Habitat for Humanity, the international outfit that builds, repairs and renovates homes for low-income people.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 6, 2023
Through this initiative, Ivorian artistic director Lemon Otto renovates external facades of older building such as Pyramid, which was completed in 1973 under the direction of the Italian architect Rinaldo Olivieri.
From Reuters ● Apr. 24, 2023
Then the sea of life also submits on agitation, stirred up by men, and death renovates the waters of the sea of life, that they might not become spoiled.
From The Man Who Was Afraid by Herman Bernstein
The area around the home was cordoned off for six days, according to The Sun, external, with one resident telling the newspaper the property was being renovated.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
Stepping into the newly renovated Vilnius airport, visitors are greeted with a slew of billboards advertising products "Made in Lithuania", including cybersecurity giant NordVPN.
From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026
By the time visitors reach the exhibition’s last gallery in this newly renovated museum, which reopened June 30 after a 20-month upgrade, they can’t help but observe the connections.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026
Prosecutors initially alleged he intentionally damaged the newly renovated surface, a felony offense carrying a potential prison sentence.
From Salon ● Aug. 1, 2026
I thought back to the day I’d renovated my room with duct tape and plastic, how nothing I’d felt when I’d scratched myself onto that page.
From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx
Ross Simmons found the water-damaged copy of “The Antiquities of Athens” while renovating a house in the seaside town of Kiama, south of Sydney.
From Salon ● Aug. 2, 2026
The project’s funding is restricted to renovating the campus and does not include the conservation of the Watts Towers themselves.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
Despite its shortcomings, he started renovating the Old House and its 5.5 acres.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
Many might wonder why Barrymore is choosing to sell, less than a year after that work was finally completed, despite having invested so much time, energy, and money into renovating the dwelling.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 8, 2026
He and his wife had split up around the time Eric and I did, but he had consoled himself by buying and renovating a wreck of a town house in Brooklyn.
From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls
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.
