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Definitions

relive

[ree-liv] / riˈlɪv /




Frequently Asked Questions

What is another word for relive?
To relive something means to experience it again in some way—to reexperience it. Sometimes, relive means to vividly recall the experience in your mind, as if you’re living through it again. In this way, to relive is really to remember. Often, saying that you relived an event really means that a memory of it triggered the same emotions you felt during the original experience. Sometimes, we relive experiences in our dreams, and sometimes in flashbacks. When this happens, the mind recreates the experience from our memories. In movies like Groundhog Day, characters literally relive the same day over and over again—they repeat it again and again until Andie MacDowell falls in love with them.
How is relive different from reminisce?
The meanings of relive and reminisce can overlap. When you reminisce about past events, it’s often an intentional way of trying to relive them. Reminiscing is commonly done through talking about those events with other people who also experienced them, which can stir memories and emotions. But there are differences. Reminisce is always used in the context of fond memories, and reminiscing is always intentional, while relive can be used in positive contexts (fond memories) or negative ones (traumatic memories), and reliving an experience in your mind sometimes happens even when you don’t want it to.
Is it relive or re-live?
Like many other words that begin with the prefix re- (meaning “again”), relive is typically spelled without a hyphen. In some words that begin with the prefix re-, a hyphen is necessary to distinguish one word from another that would be spelled the same but has an entirely different meaning, such as resign (as in quit) and re-sign (as in sign again). This is not an issue with relive.

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.

See Examples For:

If you joined the party during the reign of the Twilight Singers, this won’t sound drastically different; if you ignored the Twilight Singers but were waiting to relive “Gentlemen,” too bad.

From Salon Aug. 25, 2026

Twenty-five years after “Is This It,” the Strokes are as big as they’ve ever been — and not just among old heads eager to relive the wasted glamour of the early-2000s garage rock revival.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 27, 2026

He was already looking forward to the end of his morning meeting so he and other football-loving colleagues could relive the match over another cup of coffee.

From Barron's Jul. 20, 2026

Americans need not relive the sacrifices of his era to appreciate the lesson.

From The Wall Street Journal Jul. 2, 2026

Half of the volunteers were told to try to remember and relive a particularly stressful experience.

From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell

He relives the disaster for the children and grandchildren of those miners, who visit him to understand their family history.

From The Wall Street Journal Feb. 26, 2026

He relives the period of his boyhood when his abuela was there to greet him after school and impart to him the cultural heritage he was living apart from.

From Los Angeles Times Sep. 24, 2025

Before the draw for Euro 2024, BBC Sport relives 10 goals that tell the story of the Euro 2020 tournament - featuring memorable strikes from Harry Kane, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric.

From BBC Dec. 1, 2023

And don’t be surprised if he provides this fan base with a collection of ninth-inning heroics that posterity relives for decades to come.

From Seattle Times Jul. 23, 2023

In other words, the song relives and retells the experiences of a child in another century and makes her story highly relatable to us today.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

Families have relived how their tranquil holidays in France turned into a race to escape raging wildfires.

From BBC Jul. 25, 2026

“Over the course of many weeks during three separate trials, she relived unthinkably painful experiences in front of complete strangers,” said Bragg.

From The Wall Street Journal May 15, 2026

This was only Chelsea's third clean sheet in 12 matches and boss Enzo Maresca was relived to emerge unscathed for once.

From Barron's Nov. 1, 2025

It is relived daily through stories passed down, names found in tribunal transcripts and artifacts pulled from mass graves.

From Salon Jul. 31, 2025

When for months there was no sign or sound of her, he sighed and relived that time when his house was full of motherlessness—and the chief unmothering was Wild’s.

From "Jazz" by Toni Morrison

That procedure, they argued, would result in “Christa involuntarily reliving the worst moments of her life, much like traumatized soldiers when they return from a war zone.”

From Slate Aug. 25, 2026

By interrupting the repeated nighttime reliving of trauma, the treatment allowed many of them to sleep more peacefully.

From Science Daily Aug. 6, 2026

But it hasn’t stopped her from reliving it all.

From Salon May 27, 2026

“There is no way you can walk out and look away,” he said, adding that hospital visits can result in veterans reliving painful memories again and again.

From Los Angeles Times May 20, 2026

I shiver despite myself, reliving the icy shock of the water from just a few hours ago.

From "Five Feet Apart" by Rachael Lippincott




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