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

What to Do Visit Shiny, New Sloane Street Sloane Street has been refurbished for the first time in nearly 250 years, and it’s attracted a host of new and enlarged shops, restaurants and cafes that can compete with the best of Mayfair and Marylebone. —Tianwei Zhang, WWD, 21 Feb. 2025

Used eyeglasses and hearing aids can be recycled and refurbished to help those in need see and hear better, the release stated. —Aurora Beacon-News, Chicago Tribune, 21 Feb. 2025

This refurbished MacBook Air gets the job done without the premium price tag. —New Atlas, 19 Feb. 2025

This was an area refurbished in less than a month and looks every bit the kind of premium offering that would be the pride of a top-end Premier League club. —Gregg Evans, The Athletic, 6 Feb. 2025

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