rephrase
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
has rephrasedperfect 3rd person singular
-
have rephrasedperfect
-
is rephrasingprogressive 3rd person singular
-
are rephrasingprogressive
-
has been rephrasingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
-
am rephrasingprogressive 1st person singular
-
have been rephrasingperfect progressive
-
rephrasingparticiple
-
rephrasessingular 3rd person
Past
-
had rephrasedperfect
-
was rephrasingprogressive singular
-
were rephrasingprogressive plural
-
had been rephrasingperfect progressive
-
rephrasedparticiple
-
rephrasedsimple
Future
Etymology
Origin of rephrase
Explanation
To rephrase something is to say it again, in a slightly different way. You might rephrase your question if the person you're asking doesn't understand it the first time. You might want to rephrase something to clarify a statement, adjust your ideas to fit your audience, or try not to offend the person you're talking to. A salesman might rephrase his pitch if he's not having much success selling encyclopedias, and an author might rephrase material from a book so that the kindergartners she's talking to will understand her. The word combines the prefix re-, "again," and phrase, from the Greek phrasis, or "speech."
Vocabulary lists containing rephrase
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.
But wars are also projections beyond the border of political contests at home, to rephrase the great Clausewitz.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 26, 2026
"No, I'll rephrase that. For the normal man. But the reason he has accomplished what he's accomplished, and the reason he's done what he's done, is because he's not a normal man."
From BBC • May 21, 2026
“Let me rephrase that: Anybody who is a Republican and can participate in the process is welcome to observe.”
From Salon • Feb. 5, 2024
It’s surprisingly challenging to definitively answer this question, as we’ll see, so let’s slightly rephrase: How many naked-eye stars host planets that we know about?
From Scientific American • Oct. 6, 2023
“How on earth do you—” I decided to rephrase the question.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
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.
