REFORMATORY Synonyms: 69 Similar and Opposite Words

reformatory 1 of 2

adjective

ri-ˈfȯr-mə-ˌtȯr-ē

Definition of reformatory

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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reformatory

2 of 2

noun

as in reform school

Related Words

Dissimilar Words

outside

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of 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

The Koskinen baby was reunited with his mother, and Marzano went to a reformatory. — Mara Bovsun, New York Daily News, 3 May 2025 Due’s novel follows a 12-year-old boy in the 1950s sentenced to an infamous reformatory where ghosts in the halls tell stories about the boys that have been abused and gone missing there. — Clare Mulroy, USA TODAY, 26 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for reformatory

Recent Examples of Synonyms for reformatory

Adjective

As part of the reformative aims of the convict system, many of these men were incarcerated at Fremantle Prison, trained, and put to work on infrastructure projects such as bridges, roads, and public buildings.

— Livia Gershon, JSTOR Daily, 7 Aug. 2025
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

Definition of reformative

Noun

Advertisement The pair’s investigation starts at the Indiana boys reform school where Manson spent two years.

— Jake Kring-Schreifels, Time, 22 July 2026
Based on the true story of a reform school where Black boys went missing, the novel pairs the stories of two teens, one a troublemaker and the other caught up by mistake.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 20 July 2026

Definition of reform school

Adjective

In that role, Johnson can receive misconduct complaints, review findings and disciplinary recommendations from the independent police auditor and participate in recommending corrective action.

— Chase Hunter, Mercury News, 25 Aug. 2026
The board, after the hearing, indefinitely extended the stop-work order, stipulating that the developer had to take a number of corrective steps to address the runoff issues.

— Jim Woods, Chicago Tribune, 25 Aug. 2026

Definition of corrective

Noun

The Omaha Police Department and Omaha Public Schools did not respond to Fortune’s requests for comment on how or why the gloves were being used or about the training school resource officers received to use the devices.

— Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 13 Aug. 2026
Yarovenko, a fourth-year psychology student at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, had been an instructor at a military training school affiliated with the university.

— ABC News, ABC News, 4 Aug. 2026

Definition of training school

Noun

Witherspoon’s Bradley Jackson ends up in a gulag in Belarus and Alex Levy, played by Aniston was pushed out of the company by Marion Cotillard’s Celine Dumont.

— Peter White, Deadline, 23 July 2026
During that period, more than one million Kazakhs died in famine, while roughly two million people were imprisoned or deported to gulags on politically motivated charges.

— Tessa Solomon, ARTnews.com, 26 May 2026

Definition of gulag

Noun

This is also where via negativa earns its keep as more than a charmingly Italian-sounding phrase.

— Nell Derick Debevoise Dewey, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026
Plot details are being kept in the castle keep, but it is being described as a Medieval and supernatural fantasy twist on the concept seen in the early John Carpenter movie Assault on Precinct 13.

— Borys Kit, HollywoodReporter, 13 Aug. 2026

Definition of keep

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“Reformatory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/reformatory. Accessed 27 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of reformatory

adjective

noun

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