paraphrase
/ˈpæɹəfɹeɪz/
paraphrase noun: a restatement of a text in different words, often to clarify meaning or from memory rather than verbatim.
Noun
paraphrase (countable and uncountable, plural paraphrases)
- A restatement of a text in different words, often to clarify meaning or from memory rather than verbatim.
- Near-synonym: paraphrasis
- close paraphrase
- Synonyms:
- paraphrasis
- One of a certain number of Scripture passages turned into verse for use in the service of praise.
Verb
paraphrase (third-person singular simple present paraphrases, present participle paraphrasing, simple past and past participle paraphrased)
- To restate something as, or to compose a paraphrase. To repeat a written or spoken phrase/quote using different words, often in a simpler and shorter form, or sometimes in a humorous context.
- She asked the student to paraphrase the passage.
- Adult-literacy scores have also dropped: Nearly 30 percent of American adults cannot paraphrase or make inferences from a multipage text. In 2017, that number was less than 20 percent.2026 July 8, Rose Horowitch, “The End of Reading Is Here”, in Jeffrey Goldberg, editor, The Atlantic, Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 08 Jul...
paraphrase meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Telugu
paraphrase in Tamil
- பாராஃப்ரேஸ் செய்ய
paraphrase in Urdu
- تاویل, تاویل کرنا, تفسیر کرنا, تشریح کرنا
paraphrase in Bengali
- প্যারাফ্রেজ, প্যারাফ্রেস, প্যারফ্রেজ
paraphrase in Telugu
- పారఫ్రేజ్, పారాఫ్రేజ్, పారాఫ్రేజ్ చేయడానికి
More languagesFewer languages
- paraphrase in Malayalam
- പരാവർത്തനം parāvaṟttanaṁ
- paraphrase in Kannada
- ತಾತ್ಪರ್ಯ ಹೇಳು, ಸರಳಾನುವಾದ ಮಾಡು, ಭಾವಾನುವಾದ ಮಾಡು, ಬಿಡಿಸಿ ಹೇಳು
- paraphrase in Punjabi
- ਪੈਰਾਫ਼ਰੇਜ਼, ਪੈਰਾਫ਼ਰੈੱਜ਼, ਪੈਰਾਫ੍ਰੇਜ਼
- paraphrase in Nepali
- प्याराफ्रेज, प्याराफ्रेज गर्न
- paraphrase in Tagalog
- paraprase
- paraphrase in Arabic
- سَرَدَ sarada
- paraphrase in Thai
- ถอดความ tɔ̀ɔt-kwaam
Examples of paraphrase in a sentence
- The therapist paraphrased nonjudgmentally what the client had said.
- “"Not a human, not yet a vampire," to paraphrase one of your contemporary musical troubadours.”
- To paraphrase a popular Internet meme, share your movie or it didn't happen.
Synonyms of paraphrase
Forms of paraphrase
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | paraphrases |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | paraphrases |
| present participle | paraphrasing |
| past participle | paraphrased |
| past | paraphrased |
Origin of paraphrase
From Middle French paraphrase, from Latin paraphrasis, from Ancient Greek παράφρασις (paráphrasis), equivalent to para- + phrase. Doublet of paraphrasis.
Words formed from paraphrase
Phrases with paraphrase
Questions about paraphrase
- What does paraphrase mean?
- Paraphrase means a restatement of a text in different words, often to clarify meaning or from memory rather than verbatim.
- What is paraphrase in Tamil?
- Paraphrase in Tamil is பாராஃப்ரேஸ் செய்ய. See Paraphrase meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is paraphrase?
- Paraphrase can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce paraphrase?
- Paraphrase is pronounced /ˈpæɹəfɹeɪz/.
- What is the plural of paraphrase?
- The plural of paraphrase is paraphrases.
Words near paraphrase in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: paraphrase (page history and authors); paraphrase (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); paraphrase (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); paraphrase (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); paraphrase (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); paraphrase (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); paraphrase (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); paraphrase (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-paraphrase.wav.
Cite this entry: “paraphrase.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/paraphrase. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.