Meaning & use
resurrected
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“resurrected” is a form of “resurrect”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
verbtransitivereligion
Brought back to life after dying, especially in a religious or mythical story.
Grammar: Past form of a verb that takes an object; often used in the passive: he was resurrected.
Patterns
- be resurrected
- resurrected from the dead
- resurrected by someone
In the story, the hero is resurrected on the third day and walks among his followers.
Many ancient myths describe a god who dies and is resurrected each spring.
The villagers believed the saint had resurrected a child who had drowned.
verbtransitivefigurative
Made active, popular or available again after being forgotten or abandoned for a long time.
Grammar: Takes an object, often a thing: she resurrected the club; in the passive the old plan was resurrected.
Patterns
- resurrect something
- something is resurrected
- resurrected after something
The council resurrected a plan for a tram line that had been shelved in the 1990s.
After years of silence, the band resurrected its old songs for a reunion tour.
Her grandmother's recipe was resurrected at every holiday dinner.
Word forms
| base form | resurrect |
|---|---|
| third person singular | resurrects |
| past tense and past participle | resurrected |
| -ing form | resurrecting |
Common combinations
- resurrected from the dead
- The prophet was said to have resurrected from the dead after three days.
- resurrected career
- His resurrected career began with one unexpected film role.
- resurrect an old idea
- The minister resurrected an old idea about a four-day school week.
- resurrected tradition
- The resurrected tradition draws hundreds to the village green each year.
- be resurrected after years
- The brand was resurrected after years of silence on the market.
Synonyms and how they differ
- revived
- Revived is gentler and covers anything given new energy, while resurrected suggests it was truly dead or forgotten.
- restored
- Restored stresses putting something back to its earlier good condition, not bringing back something that had vanished.
- reinstated
- Reinstated is used for rules, jobs or rights officially returned, which resurrected rarely describes.
- raised
- Raised appears mainly in religious phrases like raised from the dead and sounds more solemn and less flexible.
Opposites
Word family
- resurrect verb
- to bring back to life or use
- resurrection noun
- the act of rising from death or coming back into use
- resurgence noun
- a new rise in activity or popularity
- resurgent adjective
- rising or becoming strong again
Commonly confused: resurrected or resurgent?
resurrected vs resurgent
Resurgent describes something rising again by itself, while resurrected means something was brought back, usually by someone.
Practice
After the factory closed, the town council ___ a scheme to attract new businesses that had been dropped years earlier.
Choose one answer.
Resurrected means brought back into use after being forgotten. Resigned would need a different structure and has an unrelated meaning, and reserved does not fit a plan being brought back.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “resurrected”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.