Meaning & use
reform school
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Meanings
nouncountableold-fashionedAmerican
A residential institution where young offenders were sent to be disciplined and re-educated.
Grammar: Countable: say 'a reform school' or 'reform schools' for more than one.
Patterns
- be sent to a reform school
- a reform school for boys
In the 1950s, the boy was sent to a reform school for stealing cars.
The old reform school on the hill closed decades ago and is now a community center.
Some reformers argued that reform schools punished children instead of helping them.
nouncountablefigurativedisapproving
Used figuratively for any place or system that forces people to behave in an approved way.
Grammar: Figurative use; often slightly critical, and usually appears with 'like a'.
Patterns
- treat something like a reform school
With all these rules, the office feels like a reform school.
Critics called the training camp a reform school for adults.
Word forms
| plural | reform schools |
|---|
Common combinations
- be sent to a reform school
- He was sent to a reform school after his third arrest.
- a juvenile reform school
- The state opened a juvenile reform school in 1902.
- end up in a reform school
- Without support at home, many of these kids end up in a reform school.
- a strict reform school
- The film is set in a strict reform school in the 1930s.
Synonyms and how they differ
- reformatory
- The older American word for the same institution; it sounds even more dated today.
- detention center
- A modern official term for a place where young offenders are held; it stresses custody more than reform.
- borstal
- The British equivalent, used for a similar institution in the UK until the 1980s.
Word family
- reform verb
- To improve something, especially a system or a person's behavior.
- reformer noun
- A person who works to change and improve laws or institutions.
- reformation noun
- The act of changing something, or a person, for the better.
Commonly confused: reform school or boarding school? reform school or prison?
reform school vs boarding school
A boarding school is simply a school where students live; a reform school was for young offenders, so the two are not interchangeable.
reform school vs prison
A prison holds adult criminals; a reform school was meant for children and teenagers, with education rather than punishment as its aim.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'reform school' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Reform school' means an institution for young offenders, so a judge sending a teenager there fits. The other options describe ordinary schools, which would not be called reform schools.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “reform school”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.