recreate
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
Other Word Forms
- recreative adjective
- recreatively adverb
- recreativeness noun
- recreator noun
Etymology
Origin of recreate
1425–75; late Middle English recreaten < Latin recreātus (past participle of recreāre to create again, revive), equivalent to re- re- + creātus; see create
Explanation
To recreate means to give new life to something, to redo, or remake it. Say you become a billionaire and you grow tired of your mansion, try recreating your childhood home on your estate, so you can retire modestly. To recreate literally means to create over. If the mural you painted on the outside of your home was damaged in a flood, you might want to recreate it with waterproof paint. Recreate can also mean reimagine. If you become the principal of your old high school, you could throw out the old subjects and recreate high school education as everlasting game day. Recreate can also mean to play — it gives us the word recreation.
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.
A mechanical artwork first imagined in 1775 to recreate the eruption of Italy's Mount Vesuvius has been brought to life for the first time, 250 years after it was conceived.
From Science Daily • May 2, 2026
In recent months, there have been notable examples of expansive use of AI tools and technology to replace or recreate human work.
From BBC • May 1, 2026
The project was created with the enthusiastic support of the actor's family, who granted access to Kilmer's video archives, which were used to recreate the actor at multiple stages of his life.
From Barron's • May 1, 2026
Some aspects of the site are so antiquated that it’s difficult to recreate.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 1, 2026
I’d read that Halliday had done all of the coding himself, drawing on his memories to recreate his hometown exactly as it was during his childhood.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
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.
