reprise
Americannoun
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reprises
plural
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Law. Usually reprises. an annual deduction, duty, or payment out of a manor or estate, as an annuity or the like.
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Music.
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a repetition.
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a return to the first theme or subject.
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verb (used with object)
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reprises,
present (3rd person singular)
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reprised,
past participle, past
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reprising
present participle
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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reprisesimple
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reprisessimple
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have reprisedperfect
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has reprisedperfect
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am reprisingprogressive
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are reprisingprogressive
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is reprisingprogressive
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have been reprisingperfect progressive
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has been reprisingperfect progressive
Past
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reprisedsimple
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had reprisedperfect
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was reprisingprogressive
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were reprisingprogressive
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had been reprisingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of reprise
1350–1400; Middle English < Middle French: a taking back, Old French, noun use of feminine past participle of reprendre to take back < Latin reprehendere to reprehend
Explanation
Reprise means "repeat an earlier role." If you’re asked to reprise your role as "kid entertainer" at the annual family reunion, that means people want you to do it again this year. Early on, reprise was a part in a song or other musical composition that is repeated. The word still carries that meaning, but now it's more likely to be used as a verb to describe an action or part that is repeated, often a performance. For example, if you played a role in a wildly successful film that is going to have a sequel, you would reprise your role. The word comes from the French word repris, meaning "take back."
Vocabulary lists containing reprise
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This Week In Popular Culture: August 17–23, 2019
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This Week In Culture: August 1–6, 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:
The protests are widely seen as a reprise of CJP's mass mobilisation in July, which led to the education minister stepping down over an examination scandal.
From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2026
The protests are widely seen as a reprise of the "cockroach" movement's mass mobilisation in July, which led to the education minister stepping down over an examination scandal.
From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2026
Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman reprise their roles as two cursed sisters in this unfortunate follow-up to their 1998 film.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
Work on the film is in the "very early days", with sources telling US media, external that both Hudson, 47, and Matthew McConaughey, 56, could reprise their roles from the first film.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
It had been decades since a White House Victory Garden had been planted, on Eleanor Roosevelt’s watch, and no one seemed much interested in a reprise.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
Two decades later, he reprises that role in “Primetime,” the A24 movie about the Dateline reality series “To Catch a Predator.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
Dwayne Johnson reprises his role as demigod Maui, while the titular heroine will be played by newcomer Catherine Laga’aia.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026
Fans entering Burke’s show were greeted by a casket and guest book, where they could pay condolences to a character Burke sometimes reprises in his performances and music videos.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 16, 2026
Australia's Samara Weaving reprises her starring role in the sequel, which sees her forced once again to run a gauntlet, this time against multiple families.
From Barron's ● Mar. 22, 2026
This rumbling, turbid, angry little rivulet, flows through evergreens and flowering underwood, and is crossed a plusieures reprises, by logs thrown from rock to rock.
From Domestic Manners of the Americans by Fanny Trollope
Walters is best known for playing Gwen West in the BBC comedy, which she appeared in from its launch in 2007 and then reprised her role for the 2024 Christmas special.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
The north London club have reprised their famous yellow for this season's third strip, with a kit reminiscent of away shirts worn by Arsenal players during the late 1980s.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
Hottle reprised the role in the 2024 follow-up, “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
That musical’s writer, Lin-Manuel Miranda, penned the songs for the 2016 film alongside Opetaia Foaʻi and Mark Mancina; dutifully reprised here, they remain basically persuasive works of Disney pop.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
Buckingham House was reprised by a bargain with the public for one hundred thousand pounds; and the small house at Windsor has been, if I mistake not, undertaken since that account was brought before us.
From The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 02 (of 12) by Edmund Burke
James Austin Johnson, reprising his Trump impersonation from the American “Saturday Night Live,” crashed the meeting as the fictional Zelenskyy pleaded for restored Starlink access.
From Salon ● Oct. 18, 2026
The season premiere opened Saturday with Ramy Youssef reprising his role as New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, delivering an update on the nor’easter battering the East Coast before James Austin Johnson’s Trump arrived unexpectedly.
From Salon ● Sep. 27, 2026
More important than reprising the past is asking whether we have the fortitude and tools to prevent the next attack.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
Fans cheered for the return of the Jonas Brothers reprising their original Disney roles in “Camp Rock 3.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
"Then through here—" Miss Avery continued passing and reprising through the hall.
From Howards End by E. M. (Edward Morgan) Forster
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