refurbish
verb
Did you know?
As seems proper given how English prefixes work, before you could refurbish something you could furbish it. That shorter word was borrowed into Middle English in the 14th century from Anglo-French as furbisshen; it shares a distant relative with the Old High German verb furben, meaning "to polish." In its earliest uses furbish also meant "to polish," but it developed an extended sense of "to renovate" shortly before English speakers created refurbish with the same meaning in the 17th century. These days refurbish is the more common of the two words, although furbish does continue to be used.
Examples of refurbish in a Sentence
Molly Parks, The Washington Examiner, 12 June 2026
After a period of neglect, new owners took over in 2017 and have been refurbishing the property with a more inclusive touch.
—David Amsden, Travel + Leisure, 10 June 2026
The $3 million from each group was for Britton-Harr to buy out the leases, refurbish the airplanes, and build a fleet.
—Doug Gollan, Forbes.com, 6 June 2026
The renovations included painting columns, refurbishing marble, replacing chairs and renovating stages, according to previous USA TODAY reporting.
—Michelle Del Rey, USA Today, 3 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for refurbish
Cite this Entry
“Refurbish.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/refurbish. Accessed 17 Jun. 2026.
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refurbish
verb
