reorient

verb

re·​ori·​ent (ˌ)rē-ˈȯr-ē-ˌent 

reoriented; reorienting

transitive verb

: to orient (someone or something) again or differently: such as

a

: to change the orientation or direction of (something or someone)

reorient the antenna

reoriented herself so she was facing north

b

: to reacquaint (someone, especially oneself) with a situation, environment, etc.

woke up and reoriented myself to my surroundings

… returning servicewomen and men struggling to reorient themselves to civilian life.

—Molly Callahan

c

: to change the goal or emphasis of (something or someone)

… I stumbled into motherhood and was bewildered at … the volte-face required to reorient myself, my values and my way of life …

—Madeleine Bunting

… lacks nearly every resource necessary to reorient its archaic industrial economy …

—David Remnick

The long-term potential of vast databases of genomic data to … reorient the debate on medical priorities …

—Larry Downes and Paul Nunes

also : to direct (something) toward the interests of a different group

… reorienting its policy priorities to the working class.

—Franklin Foer

reorientation

(ˌ)rē-ˌȯr-ē-ən-ˈtā-shən 

-ˌen-

noun

plural reorientations

Many soldiers also find blogging a useful way to help deal with reorientation to civilian life …

—Brad Knickerbocker

Examples of reorient in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Businesses must reorient themselves to lead with intention. —Dan Gardner, Forbes.com, 1 May 2025

Andor reorients that fantasy in the service of something greater than itself. —Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 21 Apr. 2025

So in the long-term, no one is going to completely reorient their operations based on what’s happening over the last week. —Lauren Hirsch, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2025

The Chinese exercises around Taiwan follow a visit to the region by U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week, and a Washington Post report that Hegseth has reoriented the U.S. military to prioritize deterring China from trying to seize Taiwan. —John Ruwitch, NPR, 1 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1877, in the meaning defined above