rehabilitate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to restore to a condition of good health, ability to work, or the like.
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to restore to good condition, operation, or management, as a bankrupt business.
- Synonyms:
- refurbish, reconstruct, recondition, restore, salvage
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to reestablish the good reputation of (a person, one's character or name, etc.).
-
to restore formally to former capacity, standing, rank, rights, or privileges.
verb (used without object)
verb
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to help (a person who has acquired a disability or addiction or who has just been released from prison) to readapt to society or a new job, as by vocational guidance, retraining, or therapy
-
to restore to a former position or rank
-
to restore the good reputation of
Other Word Forms
- nonrehabilitation noun
- nonrehabilitative adjective
- rehabilitation noun
- rehabilitative adjective
- rehabilitator noun
- unrehabilitated adjective
Etymology
Origin of rehabilitate
1570–80; < Medieval Latin rehabilitātus, past participle of rehabilitāre to restore. See re-, habilitate
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Dinkins wants to make a documentary in order to rehabilitate his image but often refuses to cooperate with the self-serious filmmaker’s process.
The star forward, who is rehabilitating from an Achilles tendon tear suffered in the playoffs last June, and has lately been practicing with the team, continues to sit out real action.
She’s the latest patient to graduate from the Long Beach aquarium, which has rehabilitated sea turtles for more than 25 years.
From Los Angeles Times
When RSA decided to rehabilitate the Battle House, did anyone ask why private capital wasn’t restoring the hotel?
Academics were useful props as Epstein embarked on a campaign to rehabilitate his image as a science-oriented philanthropist after his 2008 criminal conviction.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
