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.
Related Words
See renew.
Other Word Forms
- renovatable adjective
- renovatingly adverb
- renovation noun
- renovative adjective
- renovator noun
- unrenovated adjective
- unrenovative adjective
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
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.
The rest of the main level has been completely renovated, creating a new 10,000-square-foot exhibit and education space with nine thematic galleries.
The debating chamber is being renovated to include 36 more desks and upgraded technology, at an estimated cost of £4.2m to the taxpayer.
From BBC
“We’ve all seen places we loved get renovated and then you go, ‘Yeah, I don’t like it there anymore,’” McG says.
From Los Angeles Times
The streaming giant, which is currently attempting to purchase Warner Bros, renovated the historic 1922 theatre and now uses it to host premieres and special screenings of projects.
From BBC
Touadera has pointed to his record on improving the security situation, paved roads, public lighting installed on major avenues and renovated rainwater drainage canals in the capital.
From Barron's
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.
