To reword something means to express the same idea using different words. When you reword a sentence, you keep the meaning but change how you say it. A teacher might ask you to reword your answer to make it clearer, or you might reword a confusing paragraph in your essay to help readers understand it better.

Rewording is different from simply copying. If you're writing a report about dolphins and read that “dolphins are highly intelligent marine mammals,” you might reword it as “dolphins are very smart ocean animals.” The idea stays the same, but you've used your own words.

People reword things for many reasons: to avoid repeating themselves, to make something easier to understand, to fit a word limit, or to express an idea in their own voice. When you explain a complicated game to a younger sibling using clearer language, you're rewording the rules. Good writers know that finding different ways to express the same thought makes their writing more interesting and shows they truly understand what they're talking about, rather than just memorizing someone else's words.