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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At age 9, he was sent to reform school and then spent much of the next two decades of his life in correctional facilities.—
Victoria Edel,
PEOPLE,
30 Apr. 2026
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After entering reform school at the age of 9, Coe spent most of the next 20 years of his life in and out of prisons for charges ranging from armed robbery to auto theft, according to a 2005 Rolling Stone article.—
Melina Khan,
USA Today,
30 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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The school also said that the district took corrective action, conducting an internal review and staff refresher guidance on safety.—
Cheryl Fiandaca,
CBS News,
12 June 2026
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Restaurants that receive more than 30 demerits are required to immediately fix the most critical violations and start corrective procedures on all the other violations within 48 hours.—
Harriet Ramos,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
10 June 2026
Noun
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Meanwhile, Willingham, Riegel, Laura Bailey, Taliesin Jaffe, Ashley Johnson, Liam O’Brien, Marisha Ray, and sometimes special guests, played the characters who delved through dungeons and fought at least five (5) dragons.—
Sarah Shachat,
IndieWire,
17 June 2026
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In a distinctively American architectural feature, many of them were joined to a small dungeon dedicated to the tidy storage of automobiles—and other items.—
Caity Weaver,
The Atlantic,
12 June 2026
Noun
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The leaders, who last met in Beijing in September, also toured a ruling Workers’ Party training school and planted a fir tree symbolizing bilateral ties.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
9 June 2026
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And this robot training school is a pretty good reflection of that.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
25 May 2026
Noun
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During that period, more than one million Kazakhs died in famine, while roughly two million people were imprisoned or deported to gulags on politically motivated charges.—
Tessa Solomon,
ARTnews.com,
26 May 2026
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Stalin was also targeting Polish Catholics, and thousands of these prisoners also survived the gulag.—
Marc Weingarten,
Los Angeles Times,
4 Apr. 2026
Noun
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One is a stony oubliette with crystals growing out of the walls.—
Erin Alberty,
Axios,
6 Jan. 2025
-
This godown was an oubliette.—
Rafil Kroll-Zaidi,
Harper’s Magazine ,
7 Dec. 2021
Noun
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That is where Ona earns its keep.—
Janakiram MSV,
Forbes.com,
13 June 2026
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My thesis simply assumes that geopolitical risk, tight inventories, and lingering supply disruption keep crude supported enough to prevent a deeper breakdown in energy equities.—
Tony Zhang,
CNBC,
10 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Reformatory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/reformatory. Accessed 20 Jun. 2026.
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