Skip to main content
to relive

to relive

107 3.7
Feel or imagine a past event again in your mind
  • verb
  • /rɪˈlɪv/
translation icon : revivir
  • She often listens to old songs to relive her teenage memories.
  • relive the past
  • relive past experiences
  • relive memories

But we can relive that moment right here.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • Would you be willing to enroll in this university again if you could relive your university life?

    Academic text (2011)
  • Oh, I want to relive picking up my puppy for the first day.

  • So being able to go back and relive them, so, so nice.

  • Like what would be the memory if I could relive one day with my dad?

  • But we can relive that moment right here.

  • If you could relive one day together, what would it be?

  • If I could go back and relive that, I would love to.

  • I would relive and enjoy every moment of it.

  • I wish I could relive it.

  • Here they are able to relive past joys or dream of future glory.

    Academic text (2001)

Synonyms

to recreate
vsto relive
34 5.5

To imagine a scene clearly in your mind

experiences the event again directly in memory rather than reconstructing it
to recapture
vsto relive
26 6.0

To bring back a past feeling or quality

experiences events again in memory more generally rather than focusing on mood
to retrace
vsto relive
12 4.4

To think back over the events or steps that led to something

experiences the event again emotionally or vividly rather than just reviewing steps
to re-create
vsto relive
5.4

Picture a past scene again in your mind

experiences that scene again in memory instead of actively rebuilding it

How Vivid

to relive
107 3.7
to recollect
20 3.7
to remember
1.0

Surface Forms

relive infinitive
relived past
relived past participle
reliving present participle
relives third person singular

Morphology

relive = live (semi-transparent) = re + live

The prefix 're-' clearly adds an 'again' meaning to 'live', but the common sense of mentally experiencing past events again is somewhat more specific than a purely literal repetition of living.

Etymology

The word relive comes from re- meaning 'again' and live meaning 'to be alive or to experience'. So to relive something is to 'live it again' in your mind, which is why you feel the same moments and emotions as if they were happening now.