reform
/ˌɹiːˈfɔɹm/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.53 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The change of something that is defective, broken, inefficient or otherwise negative, in order to correct or improve it
Countable; Uncountable
verb
To put into a new and improved form or condition; to restore to a former good state, or bring from bad to good; to change from worse to better.
Transitive verb
verb
To return to a good state; to amend or correct one's own character or habits.
Intransitive verb
noun
A political movement or party.
noun
An evangelical organisation within Anglicanism.
adj
Of Reform Judaism, its tenets, or its adherents.
Example Sentences
- "The elections need to undergo a serious reform."
- "Major reform is needed to improve the efficiency in the factory."
- "19 February 2011, Barack Obama, Presidential Weekly Address, America Will Win the Future […] over the past two years, my administration has made education a top priority. We’ve launched a competition called “Race to the Top” – a reform that is lifting academic standards and getting results; not because Washington dictated the answers, but because states and local schools pursued innovative solutions."
- "to reform a profligate man; to reform corrupt manners or morals; to reform a criminal"
- "In this interview with Law Editors and Correspondents, he speaks on the gains of reforming the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP), efforts to keep underage persons out of jail."
- "“There was always something a bit wrong with him,” she said, “but nothing you mightn’t have hoped for, not till they took him and carried him off and reformed him”"
Etymology
From Middle English reformen, from Old French reformer, from Latin reformo, reformare. As a noun since 1660s, from French réforme.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌɹiːˈfɔɹm/
- British English: /ˌɹiːˈfɔːm/