recontextualize

verb

re·​con·​tex·​tu·​al·​ize ˌrē-kən-ˈteks-chə-wə-ˌlīz 

-chə-ˌlīz

recontextualized; recontextualizing; recontextualizes

transitive verb

: to place (something, such as a literary or artistic work) in a different context

Examples of recontextualize in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Richter also played around with electronic music as well, sampling Elizabethan-era instruments but recontextualizing them to create an awestruck, indistinct sense of the unseen world in which young Hamnet finds himself. —Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 8 Dec. 2025

The reflective second half recontextualizes the first, and the progression of colorful action fantasia to quiet existential reckoning is overwhelming. —Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 5 Dec. 2025

In addition, a stranger will come to town that will shake things up for Sharon and recontextualize both her past and her present. —Alamin Yohannes, Entertainment Weekly, 18 Oct. 2025

In the last decade, a spate of pop culture examining how the media mistreated famous women in the 1990s and 2000s has recontextualized their stories. —Scarlett Harris, Time, 9 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1954, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for recontextualize

• operationalize
• actualize
• antagonize
• apologise
• apologize
• capitalize
• categorize
• characterize
• commercialize
• conceptualize
• contrariwise
• criminalize

Kids Definition

recontextualize

verb

re·​con·​tex·​tu·​al·​ize ˌrē-kən-ˈteks-chə-wə-ˌlīz 

-chə-ˌlīz

: to place (something, as a literary or artistic work) in a different context

recontextualizing the story