Meaning & use
reanimate
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Meanings
verbtransitive
To bring a dead person, animal, or body back to life, especially in stories or myths.
Grammar: Takes an object: reanimate a corpse.
Patterns
- reanimate someone
- reanimate something
In the novel, the scientist tries to reanimate the dead.
Ancient legends tell of gods who could reanimate the fallen.
The film is about a doctor who reanimates a body by mistake.
verbtransitive
To make something active, lively, or successful again after a period of weakness or failure.
Grammar: Takes an object: reanimate the economy.
Patterns
- reanimate something
- reanimate a project
- reanimate an economy
The new manager reanimated the team with fresh ideas.
Government spending helped reanimate the struggling economy.
They hope to reanimate the peace talks after months of silence.
Word forms
| third person singular | reanimates |
|---|---|
| past tense | reanimated |
| past participle | reanimated |
| -ing form | reanimating |
Common combinations
- reanimate a corpse
- The wizard tried to reanimate a corpse in the graveyard.
- reanimate the economy
- Tax cuts were meant to reanimate the economy.
- reanimate a project
- She reanimated the project after it had been abandoned.
- reanimate a team
- A new coach reanimated the team and they started winning.
Synonyms and how they differ
- revive
- Revive is more common for bringing something back to life or strength, and is often used for people who recover; reanimate sounds more technical or fictional.
- resurrect
- Resurrect often has a religious tone and means bringing a dead person back to life; reanimate is more about making a body move again, often in science fiction.
- reinvigorate
- Reinvigorate means giving new energy to something that already exists, not bringing it back from death; it is used for people, organizations, or ideas.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: reanimate or animate?
reanimate vs animate
Animate means to give life or make lively, often for the first time; reanimate means to bring back to life after death or inactivity.
Practice
Choose the best word to complete the sentence: The scientist tried to ______ the dead frog in the laboratory.
Choose one answer.
Reanimate fits because it means bringing a dead body back to life, often in a scientific or fictional context. Animate would mean giving life for the first time, revive is more about restoring health or consciousness, and resurrect has a strong religious tone.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “reanimate”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.