What does reeducate mean?
Reeducate means to teach or train someone again, usually because their previous education was incomplete, unsuitable, or directed toward different circumstances. The word often implies a process of correction and renewal: a programme may reeducate prisoners in vocational skills, businesses may reeducate employees whose duties have changed, or individuals may reeducate themselves by studying a subject afresh. It can also carry a broader sense of changing established habits, attitudes, or assumptions through instruction and experience. In everyday use, reeducate is more formal than “teach again” and more comprehensive than “retrain,” which usually focuses on acquiring skills for a particular job or task. The prefix re- indicates repetition rather than reversal, so the word does not necessarily imply that earlier teaching failed completely. Its associations with rehabilitation and second chances make it particularly common in discussions of education, employment, and offender rehabilitation.
verbTo teach someone again, especially with the aim of correcting earlier education or training. It can also mean to provide a person with new knowledge or skills needed to adapt to changed circumstances.
- To teach or train someone again, especially in order to correct an earlier education or change previous habits and attitudes.
"The programme aims to reeducate former offenders and help them find secure employment."
"Adult learners attend evening classes to reeducate themselves in basic mathematics."
"The charity works to reeducate rescued dogs before finding permanent homes for them."
With the prefix re-, reeducate means not merely teaching again, but giving someone a second chance to learn.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does reeducate come from?
Reeducate combines the prefix re-, meaning “again,” with educate. Educate derives from Latin educare, meaning “to bring up” or “to train,” and developed in English through the related forms educate and education. The prefixed form retains the idea of renewed or corrective instruction.
Related word forms
How reeducate is actually used
The word is formal and is especially associated with education, employment, rehabilitation, and correctional programmes. It is often written with a hyphen, as “re-educate,” especially before a direct object.
Easily confused with reeducate
Retraining generally teaches someone the specific skills required for a new role or task, whereas reeducation can involve broader teaching, correction, or personal development.