What does Reform mean?

Definitions for Reform
rɪˈfɔrmre·form

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word Reform.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. reformnoun

    a change for the better as a result of correcting abuses

    "justice was for sale before the reform of the law courts"

  2. reformnoun

    a campaign aimed to correct abuses or malpractices

    "the reforms he proposed were too radical for the politicians"

  3. reformverb

    self-improvement in behavior or morals by abandoning some vice

    "the family rejoiced in the drunkard's reform"

  4. reformverb

    make changes for improvement in order to remove abuse and injustices

    "reform a political system"

  5. reform, reclaim, regenerate, rectifyverb

    bring, lead, or force to abandon a wrong or evil course of life, conduct, and adopt a right one

    "The Church reformed me"; "reform your conduct"

  6. reformverb

    produce by cracking

    "reform gas"

  7. reformverb

    break up the molecules of

    "reform oil"

  8. reformverb

    improve by alteration or correction of errors or defects and put into a better condition

    "reform the health system in this country"

  9. reform, straighten out, see the lightverb

    change for the better

    "The lazy student promised to reform"; "the habitual cheater finally saw the light"

Wiktionary

  1. reformnoun

    Amendment of what is defective, vicious, corrupt, or depraved; reformation; as, reform of elections; reform of government.

  2. reformverb

    To put into a new and improved form or condition; to restore to a former good state, or bring from bad to good; to change from worse to better; to amend; to correct; as, to reform a profligate man; to reform corrupt manners or morals.

  3. reformverb

    To return to a good state; to amend or correct one's own character or habits; as, a person of settled habits of vice will seldom reform.

  4. reformverb

    To form again or in a new configuration.

  5. Etymology: réforme

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. REFORMnoun

    Reformation.

    Etymology: French.

  2. To REFORMverb

    To change from worse to better.

    Etymology: reformo, Lat. reformer, Fr.

    A sect in England, following the very same rule of policy, seeketh to reform even the French reformation, and purge out from thence also dregs of popery. Richard Hooker, b. iv. s. 8.

    Seat worthier of Gods, was built
    With second thoughts, reforming what was old. John Milton.

    May no such storm
    Fall on our times, where ruin must reform. John Denham.

    Now low’ring looks presage approaching storms,
    And now prevailing love her face reforms. Dryden.

    One cannot attempt the perfect reforming the languages of the world, without rendering himself ridiculous. John Locke.

    The example alone of a vicious prince will corrupt an age; but that of a good one will not reform it. Jonathan Swift.

  3. To Reformverb

    To make a change from worse to better.

    Was his doctrine of the mass struck out in this conflict? or did it give him occasion of reforming in this point? Francis Atterbury.

Wikipedia

  1. Reform

    Reform (Latin: reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement which identified “Parliamentary Reform” as its primary aim. Reform is generally regarded as antithetical to revolution. Developing countries may carry out a wide range of reforms to improve their living standards, often with support from international financial institutions and aid agencies. This can include reforms to macroeconomic policy, the civil service, and public financial management. In the United States, rotation in office or term limits would, by contrast, be more revolutionary, in altering basic political connections between incumbents and constituents.

ChatGPT

  1. reform

    Reform refers to the process of making changes or improvements to something such as a system, organization, law, or practice, with an intention to correct its faults or enhance its effectiveness. It often involves rectifying existing problems or injustices and is usually driven by social, political, or economic motivations.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Reformverb

    to put into a new and improved form or condition; to restore to a former good state, or bring from bad to good; to change from worse to better; to amend; to correct; as, to reform a profligate man; to reform corrupt manners or morals

  2. Reformverb

    to return to a good state; to amend or correct one's own character or habits; as, a man of settled habits of vice will seldom reform

  3. Reformnoun

    amendment of what is defective, vicious, corrupt, or depraved; reformation; as, reform of elections; reform of government

Wikidata

  1. Reform

    Reform is a British right-wing think tank based in London, whose declared mission is to set out a better way to deliver public services and economic prosperity via private sector involvement and market de-regulation. Reform describes itself as independent and non-partisan. It was founded in 2001 by Nick Herbert and Andrew Haldenby.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Reform

    rē-form′, v.t. to form again or anew: to transform: to make better: to remove that which is objectionable from: to repair or improve: to reclaim.—v.i. to become better: to abandon evil: to be corrected or improved.—n. a forming anew: change, amendment, improvement: an extension or better distribution of parliamentary representation, as in the Reform Bill.—adj. Refor′mable.—n. Reformā′tion, the act of forming again: the act of reforming: amendment: improvement: the great religious revolution of the 16th century, which gave rise to the various evangelical or Protestant organisations of Christendom.—adjs. Refor′mātive, forming again or anew: tending to produce reform; Refor′mātory, reforming: tending to produce reform.—n. an institution for reclaiming youths and children who have been convicted of crime.—adj. Reformed′, formed again or anew: changed: amended: improved: denoting the churches formed after the Reformation, esp. those in which the Calvinistic doctrines, and still more the Calvinistic polity, prevail, in contradistinction to the Lutheran.—ns. Refor′mer, one who reforms: one who advocates political reform: one of those who took part in the Reformation of the 16th century; Refor′mist, a reformer.—Reformed Presbyterians, a Presbyterian denomination originating in Scotland (see Cameronian); Reform school, a reformatory. [L. re-, again, formāre, to shape—forma, form.]

The Nuttall Encyclopedia

  1. Reform

    the name given in England to successive attempts and measures towards the due extension of the franchise in the election of the members of the House of Commons.

The Foolish Dictionary, by Gideon Wurdz

  1. REFORM

    In general, a periodic epidemic, starting with marked heat, followed by a high fever, and accompanied by a flow of ink in the newspapers, a discharge of words from the face and a rush of blood to the polls, leaving the victim a chronic invalid until the next campaign. In New York, reform has been confined to a Low attempt at government.

Editors Contribution

  1. reform

    To create a new or improved form.

    It is important to reform some governmental systems to ensure justness, fairness and truth.


    Submitted by MaryC on October 23, 2020  


  2. reform

    To create change to ensure optimum health, right to life, human rights, fairness, justness, unity, peace, inclusion and freedom.

    Reform is welcomed by the electorate and it leads to the creation of a national unity government for the optimum health and prosperity of everyone.


    Submitted by MaryC on March 1, 2020  

British National Corpus

  1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'Reform' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #1948

  2. Written Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'Reform' in Written Corpus Frequency: #2164

  3. Nouns Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'Reform' in Nouns Frequency: #582

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

How to pronounce Reform?

How to say Reform in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of Reform in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of Reform in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3

Examples of Reform in a Sentence

  1. Boris Johnson:

    The PM's suggestion was modest, and sensible. It has been recklessly disregarded. This country could have a viable and exciting future outside the present EU arrangements. If we are going to stay, we need reform; and if the Danes can have their special circumstances recognized, so can Britain.

  2. Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis:

    We outlined to him the main objectives of this government which is to reform Greece in a way that has never been tried before and with a determination that was always absent, we also stated categorically that the debt-deflationary cycle in which Greece finds itself is detrimental to all efforts to reform Greece. He was good enough to explain to us his own constraints.

  3. Mahatma Gandhi:

    The outward freedom that we shall attain will only be in exact proportion to the inward freedom to which we may have grown at a given moment. And if this is a correct view of freedom, our chief energy must be concentrated on achieving reform from within.

  4. Steve Mnuchin:

    We're already sitting down and discussing this with Congress, and this is going to be something that happens absolutely within the first 90 days of this presidency. We're going to have a major tax reform, biggest tax reform since Reagan. And it's not just going to be a cut in corporate taxes, but it's also going to be a very large middle income tax cut that's going to help this country.

  5. Gray Davis:

    I'm worried about both parties. Both parties need to come together and work together because you can not have just run the country on 50 % of the brainpower. You need 100 % of the brainpower, so therefore, you need Republican ideas when you do health care reform. You need Democratic ideas when you do health care reform. You need Republican ideas when you do the infrastructure. You need Democratic ideas when you do the infrastructure.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

Reform#1#3345#10000

Translations for Reform

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

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"Reform." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 10 Feb. 2025. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/Reform>.

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