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
Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald, 15 May 2026
The Fort Lauderdale community is very pleased that the two beach basketball courts will remain at their current site and will be refurbished by Bahia Mar’s developer.
—Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 14 May 2026
The rules also encourage refurbishing to extend product life, but final responsibility ends only when the product is properly recycled.
—Aman Kumar, Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 May 2026
Under Laxminarayan’s leadership, the Lake Forest Library completed a restoration of its prominent rooftop dome and refurbished the murals painted by artist Nicolai Remisoff that hang in the building’s rotunda.
—Daniel I. Dorfman, Chicago Tribune, 11 May 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 May. 2026.
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refurbish
verb
