Meaning & use
rejuvenate
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Meanings
verbtransitive
To give a person fresh energy so that they feel younger, rested or lively again.
Grammar: Takes an object: the holiday rejuvenated him. It can also be reflexive.
Patterns
- rejuvenate someone
- feel rejuvenated
A weekend by the lake rejuvenated her.
The cool morning air will rejuvenate you.
He felt rejuvenated after a long nap.
verbtransitive
To make a place, business or thing active, modern and successful again.
Grammar: Takes an object and is common in news about towns and companies: rejuvenate the city centre.
Patterns
- rejuvenate something
The new park helped rejuvenate the neighborhood.
The company hopes a new product will rejuvenate its brand.
Investment could rejuvenate the old harbor.
verbtransitivetechnical
In geology, to make a river or landscape start eroding actively again.
Grammar: Technical use, often passive: the river was rejuvenated by uplift.
Patterns
- be rejuvenated by something
Uplift rejuvenated the river and made it cut a deeper valley.
The streams were rejuvenated when the land rose.
Geologists study how erosion is rejuvenated after tectonic movement.
Word forms
| third person singular | rejuvenates |
|---|---|
| past tense | rejuvenated |
| past participle | rejuvenated |
| -ing form | rejuvenating |
Common combinations
- rejuvenate the skin
- This cream claims to rejuvenate the skin.
- feel rejuvenated
- I felt rejuvenated after the spa weekend.
- rejuvenate a city
- Artists helped rejuvenate the city.
- rejuvenate the economy
- Tax cuts were meant to rejuvenate the economy.
- rejuvenate the body and mind
- Yoga can rejuvenate the body and mind.
Synonyms and how they differ
- refresh
- Refresh is lighter and often means a quick pick-me-up, whereas rejuvenate suggests a deeper renewal.
- revitalize
- Revitalize is very close, but it is more common for places and organizations than for a person's feelings.
- renew
- Renew is broader and also means to extend or continue something, such as a license.
- restore
- Restore means returning to an original condition, while rejuvenate aims at a younger, fresher feeling.
Opposites
Word family
- rejuvenation noun
- the process of becoming young or fresh again
- rejuvenating adjective
- making one feel energetic again
- rejuvenated adjective
- refreshed and full of energy
- juvenile adjective
- relating to young people
Commonly confused: rejuvenate or renovate?
rejuvenate vs renovate
Renovate means to repair and improve a building. Rejuvenate means to make something feel young or energetic again.
Practice
After two weeks of rest in the mountains, she felt completely ___.
Choose one answer.
Rejuvenated means refreshed and full of energy again. Renovated is used for buildings, so it is wrong for a person.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “rejuvenate”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.