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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.

Kelly: I always ask players - and with you, it feels even more prominent because you've played in some of the biggest games - if you could relive one game from your career, what would it be?

From BBC

“It was beyond traumatic. It’s been less than a week, but I still have moments where I relive what I saw, and I can hear the crying,” he said.

From Salon

"Families are left with a permanent digital record of their trauma, forced to relive their loss again and again whenever that footage resurfaces."

From BBC

Betty took up the opportunity to address the panel, an experience she said felt like reliving the past.

From BBC

These are the kinds of memories that allow a person to mentally relive past experiences and "travel back in time" within their own mind.

From Science Daily