reminisce

American  

[rem-uh-nis] / ˌrɛm əˈnɪs /

verb (used without object)

• reminisces,
  present (3rd person singular)
• reminisced,
  past participle,  past
• reminiscing
  present participle

1. 

   to recall past experiences, events, etc.; indulge in reminiscence.

   Synonyms:

   muse, recollect, remember

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reminisce British  

/ ˌrɛmɪˈnɪs /

verb

1. (intr) to talk or write about old times, past experiences, etc

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

• reminiscing
  present
• reminisced
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• reminisce
  simple
• reminisces
  simple
• have reminisced
  perfect
• has reminisced
  perfect
• am reminiscing
  progressive
• are reminiscing
  progressive
• is reminiscing
  progressive
• have been reminiscing
  perfect progressive
• has been reminiscing
  perfect progressive

Past

• reminisced
  simple
• had reminisced
  perfect
• was reminiscing
  progressive
• were reminiscing
  progressive
• had been reminiscing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will reminisce
  simple
• will have reminisced
  perfect
• will be reminiscing
  progressive
• will have been reminiscing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of reminisce

First recorded in 1820–30; back formation from reminiscence

Explanation

Reminisce is a dreamy way of saying "remember the past." If you're swapping old stories with friends and remembering all the silly things you used to do, then you're reminiscing. Reminiscing is all about happy recollections and thinking back to stories from the past. It's hard to reminisce about the old days with someone you don't know very well or haven't known very long, since a key part of reminiscing is a shared history. But just about anyone can reminisce about going elementary school, learning to tie shoelaces, or getting that first job.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

reminisce reminisces reminisced reminiscing

Later in the evening, at nearby watering hole Bluffs, regulars gathered to toast Dolly, sing karaoke versions of her songs and reminisce about their local legend.

From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026

"Zendaya and I will, every now and then, watch Spider-Man 1 and reminisce about being 19 and making those movies again," he said.

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

Its title is taken from the name of a New York club of considerable legend, and Madonna uses the setting to reminisce about her wild days in this milieu.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026

They reminisce about the brown bread: those sweet, dark little wheat loaves scented with honey, molasses, cocoa powder and espresso.

From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026

They went home to a good Thanksgiving dinner of pot roast and home-made noodles and spent the afternoon listening to Papa reminisce how he had gone around Thanksgiving Day as a boy.

From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith

Early in his extraordinary new documentary, “Remake,” seasoned filmmaker Ross McElwee reminisces with his young son, Adrian, about their travels together, presenting McElwee’s films at various festivals around the world.

From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2026

"I remember vividly reading it on the 273 bus to Ealing from my home in Ruislip, when I was about 11 or 12 years old," he reminisces.

From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026

The artist smiles as she reminisces about those early experiments.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 10, 2026

She also reminisces about how Mar-a-Lago is where her father gave Barron swim lessons, Donald Trump played golf with Barron, and Barron took his first tennis lessons with her.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 31, 2026

Naano gushes as she reminisces about this most wonderful day.

From "Zara’s Rules for Record-Breaking Fun" by Hena Khan

Washington Post columnist Marc Thiessen reminisced about working two jobs, living with roommates and eating ramen after college.

From Salon ● Aug. 13, 2026

Others were pulled back to their lab days: “Considering volunteering my services as I have unintentionally killed Desmodesmus cultures many times,” one scientist reminisced on Bluesky.

From Slate ● Jun. 27, 2026

On Thursday night's show, Sir Paul and Colbert reminisced about past appearances at New York's Ed Sullivan Theater by The Beatles, and memories of the band touring the US.

From BBC ● May 22, 2026

In his third year of a music degree, 26-year-old guitarist Daniel Lukusa reminisced about how much better the rumba played on repeat in his family home was.

From Barron's ● Feb. 18, 2026

I was there watching and wondering how this ritual went and I reminisced back to when I was a freshman pledging for this sorority.

From "The Freedom Writers Diary" by The Freedom Writers

"You've always been a bit gung-ho with your guitars," Gallagher said, reminiscing about borrowing the instrument - a black 1982 Rickenbacker 330 Jetglo - to appear on the cover of Oasis' 1994 debut single Supersonic.

From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026

Casado, a Stanford University Ph.D. in computer science, remembers attending Hot Chips, an annual Stanford semiconductor conference, in the early 2000s, when it was largely populated by industry retirees reminiscing about the good old days.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026

Whether Musk was supporting SpaceX’s valuation or reminiscing about Tesla is unclear.

From Barron's ● Jun. 2, 2026

The pair linked up on a video call arranged by the BBC, reminiscing about the Swap Shop appearance and catching up on the years since.

From BBC ● Apr. 7, 2026

Mama set out cookies, and after an hour of arranging ornaments and eating cookies and singing and reminiscing about Christmases past, the tree trimming was complete.

From "The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street" by Karina Yan Glaser

Related Words

• look back
• remind