reminisce

verb

rem·​i·​nisce ˌre-mə-ˈnis 

reminisced; reminiscing

intransitive verb

: to indulge in reminiscence

reminiscer

ˌre-mə-ˈni-sər 

noun

Did you know?

What comes to mind when thinking of reminisce?

Do you remember, say, the 21st night of September? Fantastic. Earth, Wind, and Fire does, too, on their classic hit from 1978, “September.” More than remember, the band reminisces—that is, they share details and express feelings about what they remember: dancing, a bell ringing, souls singing, et al. Reminisce distinguishes itself from words like remember and recollect by implying a casual recalling of experiences long past, often with a sense of nostalgia. Reminisce and its relatives reminiscence and reminiscent all trace back to the Latin verb reminisci, meaning “remember.” Reminisci in turn shares roots with mens, the Latin word for “mind.”

Synonyms

• remember
• recall
• think (of)

Choose the Right Synonym for reminisce

remember, recollect, recall, remind, reminisce mean to bring an image or idea from the past into the mind.

remember implies a keeping in memory that may be effortless or unwilled.

remembers that day as though it were yesterday

recollect implies a bringing back to mind what is lost or scattered.

as near as I can recollect

recall suggests an effort to bring back to mind and often to re-create in speech.

can't recall the words of the song

remind suggests a jogging of one's memory by an association or similarity.

that reminds me of a story

reminisce implies a casual often nostalgic recalling of experiences long past and gone.

old college friends like to reminisce

Examples of reminisce in a Sentence

Ray pauses to point out the Whisky a Go Go, on Sunset Boulevard, and reminisces about the night Elvis Presley went there to see the Kinks play. —David Wild, Rolling Stone, 13 May 1993

When relatives reminisce about my great-grandfather, they almost always precede it with some reference to his affection for me. —Donna Tartt, Harper's, July 1992

We had apple fritters, roast chicken, an enormous lunch, with Mrs. Truman talkative, easy, and the President reminiscing and telling jokes. —Lady Bird Johnson 2 Sept. 1965,, A White House Diary,  1970

He reminisced with old buddies at his high school reunion.

She reminisced about her time in Europe.

Recent Examples on the Web

The Walking Dead stars Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride have been reminiscing on how their characters have developed in the 15 years since the franchise first launched on TV. —Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 15 Oct. 2025

There was, however, one person this week who was not interested, at all, in reminiscing. —David Aldridge, New York Times, 12 Oct. 2025

So Laurel sends her husband home, slips into Scotty’s office and starts reminiscing about the time the three of them were improv comedians in Seattle. —Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 12 Oct. 2025

The former White House communications director, 36, playfully shared the news while the hosts were reminiscing on past embarrassing moments as part of their Hot Topics segment. —Edward Segarra, USA Today, 8 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

back-formation from reminiscence

First Known Use

1829, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for reminisce

• abyss
• amiss
• chlamys
• dismiss
• premiss
• remiss
• bis
• bliss
• criss
• dis
• diss
• hiss

Podcast

Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox!

Kids Definition

reminisce

verb

rem·​i·​nisce ˌrem-ə-ˈnis 

reminisced; reminiscing

: to talk or think about things that happened in the past

reminisced about old times