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Words with the prefix re-

re- means “again; back”, from Latin.

16 examples of the prefix re-

  1. redore- + dodo again
  2. reusere- + useuse again
  3. rerunre- + runrun or broadcast again
  4. reloadre- + loadload again
  5. reopenre- + openopen again
  6. replayre- + playplay again
  7. returnre- + turnturn back, go back
  8. rebuildre- + buildbuild again from scratch
  9. replacere- + placeput back in place
  10. refreshre- + freshmake fresh again
  11. reconsiderre- + considerconsider again carefully
  12. reorganizere- + organizeorganize again differently
  13. reaffirmre- + affirmaffirm or state again
  14. reinstatere- + instateput back into position
  15. reconstitutere- + constituteform or compose again

Also: rewrite

How re- works

The prefix 're-' attaches to verbs without spelling change, keeping the base word's part of speech as a verb (or occasionally adjective/noun). Unlike prefixes such as 'in-', 're-' does not assimilate to the following consonant, so its form stays 're-' regardless of the base word's initial letter.

Watch out: Words like 'red,' 'rest,' 'reach,' 'real,' and 'ready' look as if they begin with 're-' but are unrelated root words with no separable base meaning 'again' or 'back.'

To see prefixes combine with other parts, try the word dissector and root builder, or test yourself in the vocabulary quiz.

Other common prefixes

Questions people ask

What does the prefix re- mean?

re- means “again; back”. It comes from Latin. The prefix 're-' attaches to verbs without spelling change, keeping the base word's part of speech as a verb (or occasionally adjective/noun). Unlike prefixes such as 'in-', 're-' does not assimilate to the following consonant, so its form stays 're-' regardless of the base word's initial letter.

What are some examples of words with the prefix re-?

redo, reuse, rerun, reload, reopen, replay, return, rebuild. The full list of 16 examples, with what each one literally means, is above.

Which words look like they have the prefix re- but don’t?

Words like 'red,' 'rest,' 'reach,' 'real,' and 'ready' look as if they begin with 're-' but are unrelated root words with no separable base meaning 'again' or 'back.'

What is a prefix?

A prefix is a word part added to the front of a base word or root to change its meaning, like un- in unhappy or re- in rewrite. It does not usually change the part of speech.