rearrange

verb

re·​ar·​range ˌrē-ə-ˈrānj 

rearranged; rearranging

transitive verb

: to arrange (something or someone) again in a different way

rearranged the flowers on the table

rearrange the furniture

I rearranged my hair/clothes/glasses.

… anagrams, which are words or phrases rearranged to form different words or phrases.

—Carolyn Phelan

… massaging his knees while he talks, frequently rearranging himself into a more comfortable position.

—Daniel Ross

Sarah is more or less grimacing now …. In a minute, she'll rearrange her face to look cheerful.

—Aurelie Sheehan

… rearranging their lives … to go back to school, to get the education that was denied them or that they did not want when they were young.

—Ruth Dorgan

… thousands of people had to cancel or rearrange their travel plans.

—Ken Young

Examples of rearrange in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

That means rearranging the survivors – and four less to defend the motherland. —David Hambling, Forbes, 19 Mar. 2025

The director toys with jump scares and mirrors, rearranges our sense of time and experiments with off-kilter camera angles (Frank G. DeMarco is the DP) to build a sense of dread. —Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 Mar. 2025

There are so many right answers right now when the Tritons spin and rearrange the tumblers. —Bryce Miller, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Feb. 2025

Bare branches finger and rearrange the sky, and sometimes stars drill into it and mountains sharpen themselves against it. —Murr Brewster, The Christian Science Monitor, 19 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1778, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for rearrange

• interchange
• arrange
• derange
• estrange
• exchange
• midrange
• change
• grange
• mange
• range
• strange

Kids Definition

rearrange

verb

re·​ar·​range

ˌrē-ə-ˈrānj

: to arrange again usually in a different way

rearranged the furniture

rearrangement noun