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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.

See Examples For:

It was too low, too unwavering in its path to be anything but a missile, and the two men relive the moments with anxiety.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 20, 2026

It’s grounded in a specific place, carrying with it all the tastes, smells and textures McFadden can relive from that trip.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 29, 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

Together, they relive the night Clark’s wife left, with Mary acting as his former spouse.

From Salon May 30, 2026

Not that Toby didn’t want to relive every single moment of it.

From "We'll Fly Away" by Bryan Bliss

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

But the team can watch tape and he plans to make sure the group relives Friday night’s letdown, highlighting the best and worst of the team’s performance.

From Los Angeles Times Jan. 20, 2024

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

She relives part of it, night after night.

From New York Times Jul. 12, 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

“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

Before Sunday's game, only one point separated the sides in Serie A. The stench of hatred had significantly contaminated the air and past controversies were rehashed and relived, provoking an overwhelming amount of tension.

From BBC Feb. 6, 2024

She drew them out, turned them over, and relived that pleasant winter at kind Mrs. Kirke’s.

From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott

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

She said the case resonated because people felt like they were "reliving the grief with the family".

From BBC Aug. 8, 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

We used to watch it together and now we’re reliving our nostalgia and childhood.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 10, 2026

Zeitoun spent the day reliving his arrest and the weeks afterward.

From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers




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