Meaning & use
reintegrate
Last updated
Meanings
verbtransitive
To help someone become part of a group or community again after being away.
Grammar: Takes an object, often with into: reintegrate former soldiers into society.
Patterns
- reintegrate someone into something
- reintegrate someone with something
The program helps released prisoners reintegrate into their communities.
The school worked to reintegrate the child after a long illness.
Veterans often need support as they reintegrate into civilian life.
verbtransitive
To combine parts into a whole again.
Grammar: Used with systems or parts, often in technical or policy texts.
Patterns
- reintegrate something into something
The company decided to reintegrate its two departments.
Engineers reintegrated the repaired module into the main system.
The region was reintegrated into the national economy.
Word forms
| third person singular | reintegrates |
|---|---|
| past tense | reintegrated |
| past participle | reintegrated |
| -ing form | reintegrating |
Common combinations
- reintegrate into society
- Training helps former inmates reintegrate into society.
- reintegrate into the workforce
- She wants to reintegrate into the workforce after raising children.
- reintegrate fully
- It took a year for him to reintegrate fully.
- help reintegrate
- Volunteers help reintegrate refugees into local schools.
- reintegrate with
- The patient had to reintegrate with her family routine.
Synonyms and how they differ
- readmit
- Readmit focuses on letting someone back in, whereas reintegrate covers the whole process of fitting in again.
- reabsorb
- Reabsorb suggests taking back into a larger body, often in a physical or economic sense.
- rehabilitate
- Rehabilitate stresses restoring someone to a normal healthy life, with a stronger sense of repair than reintegrate.
Opposites
Word family
- integrate verb
- to combine or join into a whole
- reintegration noun
- the process of rejoining a group or system
- integration noun
- the act of combining
- integral adjective
- necessary as part of a whole
Commonly confused: reintegrate or reinstate?
reintegrate vs reinstate
Reinstate means to give back a position or rule that was removed, rather than to help someone fit in again.
Practice
A support program helps soldiers ___ into everyday civilian life.
Choose one answer.
Reintegrate means to fit back into a community. Relinquish means give up, reiterate means repeat, relegate means demote.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “reintegrate”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.