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
Hank Beckman, Chicago Tribune, 17 Apr. 2026
Kering also aims to refurbish or relocate two-thirds of its Gucci store network, reduce selling space by 20% and outlets by a third to achieve a doubling of its sales density by 2030.
—Elsa Ohlen, CNBC, 16 Apr. 2026
Megan also preserved most of the wood flooring as well as the abundant cypress wainscot panels and millwork, hiring local craftspeople to refurbish them.
—Jennifer Stewart Kornegay, Southern Living, 15 Apr. 2026
Items sourced for free from curbsides or bulk trash can often be cleaned, refurbished, and resold, sometimes within hours.
—Michele Laufik, Martha Stewart, 14 Apr. 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 19 Apr. 2026.
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refurbish
verb
