Meaning & use
reminisce
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Meanings
verbintransitive
To think or talk about happy memories of the past.
Grammar: Usually followed by about: reminisce about school days.
Patterns
- reminisce about something
- reminisce with someone
The old friends reminisced about their college days all evening.
Grandpa loves to reminisce with us on the porch.
We sat by the fire and reminisced.
verbtransitiveformalliterary
To say something while recalling a past event.
Grammar: Used with a quotation or clause in writing.
Patterns
- reminisce that
"It rained the whole week," she reminisced.
He reminisced that the town had once had three cinemas.
She reminisced that her first car was bright yellow.
Word forms
| third person singular | reminisces |
|---|---|
| past tense | reminisced |
| past participle | reminisced |
| -ing form | reminiscing |
Common combinations
- reminisce about the past
- They liked to reminisce about the past.
- reminisce fondly
- He reminisced fondly about his years at sea.
- reminisce over coffee
- We reminisced over coffee for hours.
- reminisce with an old friend
- I reminisced with an old friend at the reunion.
- sit and reminisce
- The veterans sat and reminisced.
Synonyms and how they differ
- reflect
- Reflect means to think seriously about the past or present and need not involve happy memories.
- remember
- Remember is the general word for recalling something, while reminisce suggests enjoying the memories, usually with others.
- recollect
- Recollect is formal and often suggests a deliberate effort to recall.
Opposites
Word family
- reminiscence noun
- a pleasant memory or the act of recalling one
- reminiscent adjective
- reminding you of something
- reminiscing noun
- the act of recalling past times
- reminiscences noun
- a written or spoken collection of memories
Commonly confused: reminisce or remind?
reminisce vs remind
Remind means to make someone remember something, while reminisce means to enjoy recalling past events yourself.
Practice
The retired teachers met to ___ about their first years in the classroom.
Choose one answer.
Reminisce about means to recall happy memories; remind needs a person as object and the others do not fit.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “reminisce”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.