as in reformative
serving to raise or adjust something to some standard or proper condition
the belief that manual labor was a reformatory experience for convicted felons, who would learn the value of hard work
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as in reform school
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Recent Examples of reformatory
JSTOR Daily, 24 June 2024
His mother sent him to the Élan School in Maine, a reformatory boarding institution with extreme forms of discipline, including shouting sessions and boxing matches, that attracted widespread criticism and that led to the school’s closing in 2011.
—Alex Traub, New York Times, 7 Mar. 2024
Mara Bovsun, New York Daily News, 9 Feb. 2025
Bearing the brunt of an innocent misstep, he’s sentenced to the netherworld of Nickel Academy, a brutal reformatory sunk deep in the Jim Crow South.
—Samantha Bergeson, IndieWire, 13 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for reformatory
Adjective
While Spanish Catholicism and reformatory Protestantism favored black clothing, much of the Renaissance happened in an explosion of color.
—JSTOR Daily, 24 June 2024
His mother sent him to the Élan School in Maine, a reformatory boarding institution with extreme forms of discipline, including shouting sessions and boxing matches, that attracted widespread criticism and that led to the school’s closing in 2011.
—Alex Traub, New York Times, 7 Mar. 2024
Noun
Her behavior became so outrageous and uncontrollable that her family arranged to send her to a girls’ reformatory.
—Mara Bovsun, New York Daily News, 9 Feb. 2025
Bearing the brunt of an innocent misstep, he’s sentenced to the netherworld of Nickel Academy, a brutal reformatory sunk deep in the Jim Crow South.
—Samantha Bergeson, IndieWire, 13 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for reformatory
Recent Examples of Synonyms for reformatory
Adjective
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Fifty-five years after Martin Luther King's death, African Americans continue to proudly honor his reformative legacy in Phoenix.—
The Arizona Republic,
The Arizona Republic,
14 Jan. 2024
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While the idea of hiring actors might raise some eyebrows, acting and artistry can be an important step in the reformative process, and Hemsworth suggested that the actors’ real-life experiences helped shape their on-screen characters.—
Wesley Stenzel,
EW.com,
5 Dec. 2023
Noun
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The film follows a pivotal day in the life of headteacher Steve (Murphy, 49) and his students at a last-chance reform school amidst a world that has forsaken them.—
Jen Juneau,
People.com,
24 June 2025
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Set in the mid-1990s, Steve follows a pivotal day in the life of the titular headteacher and his students at a last-chance reform school amidst a world that has forsaken them.—
Nancy Tartaglione,
Deadline,
24 June 2025
Adjective
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Counties and cities must report serious financial problems to the governor or Legislature for potential corrective action.—
Skyler Swisher,
The Orlando Sentinel,
19 June 2025
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We are committed to addressing this matter fully and to implementing all necessary corrective actions to ensure this does not happen again.—
Hugh Cameron,
MSNBC Newsweek,
18 June 2025
Noun
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Melissa had just published Whip Smart, her first book, a propulsive memoir about her experience working as a professional dominatrix in a dungeon in New York.—
Awakeners
June 10,
Literary Hub,
10 June 2025
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This year's 16th century throwback includes a fire whip show, a pun dungeon, chivalry lessons and beer tastings.—
Tasha Tsiaperas,
Axios,
3 Apr. 2025
Noun
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But this time, when the familiar group then comes face-to-face inside the recognizable Red Center, home to the handmaids training school and familiar season-one stomping ground for the series, there was no violence.—
Jackie Strause,
HollywoodReporter,
15 May 2025
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In the summer of 1942, the the command opened a combat training school at Tarrant Field for pilots on the heavy bombers being produced next door at the Consolidated Vultee plant (now Lockheed Martin).—
Richard Selcer,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
17 May 2025
Noun
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Assad stayed in power by killing his own people, deploying chemical weapons and Russian bombs, and torturing and murdering them in an underground network of gulags.—
Alexander Smith,
NBC news,
14 May 2025
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What kind of people approve of a government that extra-judicially kidnaps innocents and renders them into the hands of a foreign gulag—and then hides behind that government when ordered by an American court to bring them back?—
Matt Robison,
MSNBC Newsweek,
16 Apr. 2025
Noun
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One is a stony oubliette with crystals growing out of the walls.—
Erin Alberty,
Axios,
6 Jan. 2025
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One is a stony oubliette with crystals growing out of the walls.—
Erin Alberty,
Axios,
6 Jan. 2025
Noun
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The office has earned its keep over the years by producing detailed, unbiased analyses of the cost and performance of major weapons systems like the F-35 combat aircraft.—
William Hartung,
Forbes.com,
31 May 2025
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What’s more, the double-stitched seams and baffle box design keep lumps at bay.—
Nashia Baker,
Architectural Digest,
28 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Reformatory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/reformatory. Accessed 1 Jul. 2025.
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