as in reformative
serving to raise or adjust something to some standard or proper condition
the belief that manual labor was a reformatory experience for convicted felons, who would learn the value of hard work
Synonyms & Similar Words
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as in reform school
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of reformatory
JSTOR Daily, 24 June 2024
His mother sent him to the Élan School in Maine, a reformatory boarding institution with extreme forms of discipline, including shouting sessions and boxing matches, that attracted widespread criticism and that led to the school’s closing in 2011.
—Alex Traub, New York Times, 7 Mar. 2024
Essence, 13 Feb. 2025
On the cusp of college, he’s instead sentenced to time at a notorious reformatory.
—Patrick Hipes, Deadline, 2 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for reformatory
Adjective
While Spanish Catholicism and reformatory Protestantism favored black clothing, much of the Renaissance happened in an explosion of color.
—JSTOR Daily, 24 June 2024
His mother sent him to the Élan School in Maine, a reformatory boarding institution with extreme forms of discipline, including shouting sessions and boxing matches, that attracted widespread criticism and that led to the school’s closing in 2011.
—Alex Traub, New York Times, 7 Mar. 2024
Noun
James Thompson remembered the words of the state psychologist he was required to visit weekly in Charlotte after being released from the state reformatory.
—Essence, 13 Feb. 2025
On the cusp of college, he’s instead sentenced to time at a notorious reformatory.
—Patrick Hipes, Deadline, 2 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for reformatory
Recent Examples of Synonyms for reformatory
Adjective
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As part of the reformative aims of the convict system, many of these men were incarcerated at Fremantle Prison, trained, and put to work on infrastructure projects such as bridges, roads, and public buildings.—
Livia Gershon,
JSTOR Daily,
7 Aug. 2025
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Fifty-five years after Martin Luther King's death, African Americans continue to proudly honor his reformative legacy in Phoenix.—
The Arizona Republic,
The Arizona Republic,
14 Jan. 2024
Noun
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This staggering drama forces the viewer to bear witness to brutal conditions at a corrupt reform school through the eyes of two of its students — literally.—
Kevin Jacobsen,
Entertainment Weekly,
28 Dec. 2025
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The Netflix drama, directed by Tim Mielants and written by Max Porter, is a reimagining of Porter’s best-selling novel Shy and follows a pivotal day in the life of head teacher Steve (Murphy) and his students at a last-chance reform school.—
Lily Ford,
HollywoodReporter,
1 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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Other issues, such as out-of-school bullying, home insecurity and lack of funds, also may be beyond a teacher’s corrective reach.—
Bruce Plopper,
Washington Post,
10 Feb. 2026
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Tropical hibiscus might only need minor selective or corrective pruning in some years and hard pruning in others.—
Nadia Hassani,
The Spruce,
9 Feb. 2026
Noun
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So Lisa also showed us massage candles that melt into warm oil—think hot bath, not medieval dungeon.—
Alysia Reiner,
Flow Space,
13 Feb. 2026
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For the entire 15-minute show, they’ve been contorted into pieces of furniture Lawson fabricated, pieces befitting something between an asylum and BDSM dungeon, and reminiscent of Allen Jones’s 1960s Pop sculpture series, which depicts fiberglass women in fetishware as home objects.—
Anna Peele,
Vanity Fair,
6 Feb. 2026
Noun
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On this date in 1892, the 13 original rules of basketball were printed in the training school newspaper for the Springfield YMCA.—
Zach Harper,
New York Times,
15 Jan. 2026
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But that dream came with challenges, and now a lawsuit against American Airlines and a flight training school.—
Shambhavi Rimal,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
18 Dec. 2025
Noun
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The roots of Soviet and post-Soviet homophobia lie not in religion, but in the legacy of the Soviet gulag—where being homosexual was considered the worst thing that could befall a man.—
Mikhail Zygar,
Vanity Fair,
7 Jan. 2026
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The cast fragmented, with the Byers family and El trying to start over in California while Hopper languished in a tonally dissonant Soviet gulag, as though the Duffers didn’t realize that what people loved most about Stranger Things was its grounding in Hawkins.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
26 Dec. 2025
Noun
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One is a stony oubliette with crystals growing out of the walls.—
Erin Alberty,
Axios,
6 Jan. 2025
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This godown was an oubliette.—
Rafil Kroll-Zaidi,
Harper’s Magazine ,
7 Dec. 2021
Noun
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Functional designs that pull double, or even triple, duty are an easy way to make your dollar stretch further, especially in smaller spaces where each piece needs to earn its keep.—
Jacqueline Tempera,
Better Homes & Gardens,
11 Feb. 2026
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Mazda’s i-Activsense safety suite includes adaptive cruise control, lane-keep assist, blind-spot monitoring, and other modern aids as standard.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
7 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Reformatory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/reformatory. Accessed 22 Feb. 2026.
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