refurbish

verb

re·​fur·​bish ri-ˈfər-bish 

refurbished; refurbishing; refurbishes

transitive verb

: to brighten or freshen up : renovate

refurbisher noun

refurbishment

ri-ˈfər-bish-mənt 

noun

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

Recent Examples on the Web

Lucy refurbishes their noisy slab arrangements into massive walls of buzzing texture, like a cross between a fashionable rave and a final boss battle. — H.d. Angel, Pitchfork, 8 Oct. 2026

The model for taking a scorecard into a presidential primary comes from Richard Nixon, who refurbished his reputation by campaigning across the country for Republicans in 1966 and got some credit for a good GOP year. — David Weigel, semafor.com, 7 Oct. 2026

Knappenberger also refurbished a 1960s vending machine filled with mystery mini prints of four Kansas City landmarks. — Noelle Alviz-Gransee, Kansas City Star, 5 Oct. 2026

Items sent for trade-in go to SELLIT9's partners to be refurbished and resold, donated, or responsibly recycled. — Jon Martindale, PC Magazine, 1 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1611, in the meaning defined above

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Kids Definition

refurbish

verb

re·​fur·​bish ri-ˈfər-bish 

: to brighten or freshen up : renovate

refurbish an old house

refurbishment

-mənt 

noun