110 Verbs That Start With R | Definitions & Examples
Lists of verbs that start with R can be useful for students, teachers, and anyone looking to expand their vocabulary. This article lists 110 verbs beginning with R, including definitions, grouped into everyday verbs like “reach,” “read,” and “remind,” as well as more advanced verbs like “rebuff,” “recapitulate,” and “remonstrate.”
Start with a prompt that describes your list of verbs beginning with R, like: “Give me a list of 10 phrasal verbs that start with R.”
40 common verbs that start with R
The following list contains 40 commonly used verbs that start with the letter R, including simple definitions.
- Race: Compete to see who is fastest
- Rain: Be weather where water falls from the sky
- Raise: Lift up or increase something
- Reach: Get to a place or touch something far away
- React: Do or say something because something happened
- Read: Look at words and understand them
- Realize: Understand something clearly, often suddenly
- Receive: Get something that someone gives or sends
- Recognize: Know someone or something because you have seen it before
- Recommend: Say that something is good and someone should try it
- Record: Save sound, video, or information so you can use it later
- Recycle: Process used materials so they can be used again
- Reduce: Lower the amount or level of something
- Refer: Send someone to a person, place, or information source that can help them
- Refuse: Say no to something or not agree to do it
- Regulate: Control something by rules
- Relax: Become calm and rest
- Rely: Depend on someone or something for help or support
- Remember: Keep something in your mind or bring it back to mind
- Remind: Help someone remember something
- Remove: Take something away or off
- Rent: Pay money to use something for a time
- Repair: Fix something that is broken
- Repeat: Say or do something again
- Replace: Put something new in the place of something old or missing
- Reply: Answer someone
- Report: Tell someone about something that happened
- Request: Ask for something in a polite or formal way
- Research: Study something carefully to learn more about it
- Respond: Say or do something as an answer
- Rest: Stop doing something for a while so you have more energy later
- Retain: Keep possession of something or continue to have it
- Return: Go back or give something back
- Respond: Say or do something as an answer
- Ride: Travel on something you sit on or in (e.g, a bike or horse)
- Ring: Make a bell-like sound
- Rise: Move up or go up
- Roll: Move by turning over and over
- Run: Move fast on your feet
- Rush: Do something very quickly because you don’t have much time
We rented an apartment downtown.
The windows are old and need replacing.
You can ride with us; there’s plenty of space in our car.
Somebody’s phone is ringing.
There’s no need to rush; we have lots of time.
- I realized I’d gotten off at the wrong bus stop.
- I don’t recognize anyone at this party.
- I was realizing I’d gotten off at the wrong bus stop.
- I’m not recognizing anyone at this party.
You use the verb “realize” when you “understand something” but “recognize” when something or someone looks familiar:
- Sorry I’m not wearing a costume; I didn’t realize it was a costume party.
- I recognize her, but I’ve forgotten her name.
- Sorry I’m not wearing a costume; I didn’t recognize it was a costume party.
- I realize her, but I’ve forgotten her name.
Use QuillBot’s free Grammar Checker to avoid errors with easy-to-confuse verbs like “realize” and “recognize” and “rise” and “raise.”
70 advanced verbs that start with R
This list of 70 verbs that start with R features more advanced vocabulary—verbs that you might need to know to understand reading passages and answer vocabulary questions on advanced language proficiency tests, college entrance exams, or standardized tests.
Many of the verbs on this list start with the prefix re- (such as “recant,” “reaffirm,” and “reconcile”), a Latin prefix that often carries the sense of “again” or “back.”
- Verb tense (e.g., “They ransacked the apartment” vs. “They had ransacked the apartment,” etc.)
- Passive voice vs. active voice (e.g., “They ransacked the apartment” vs. “The apartment was ransacked by the thieves”)
- Gerunds vs. infinitives (e.g., “We considered revoking the license” vs. “We decided to revoke the license”)
- Transitive verbs vs. intransitive verbs (e.g., “She recited the poem” vs. “The population rebelled”)
- Ransack: Search a place roughly and thoroughly, often causing damage or disorder
- Rationalize: Try to explain or justify something in a way that makes it seem reasonable
- Ravage: Cause severe damage or destruction to something
- Reaffirm: State something again to show it is still believed or supported
- Reallocate: Move resources or responsibilities from one place or use to another
- Reap: Gather a crop from the fields, or get a result from what you have done
- Rebel: Fight against authority or refuse to obey rules
- Rebuff: Reject or refuse someone or something in a firm way
- Rebut: Answer an argument or claim by showing it is wrong
- Recapitulate: Summarize the main points again, often at the end of something
- Recant: Publicly take back a statement or belief that was previously expressed
- Recast: Change the form, role, or presentation of something
- Recite: Say something aloud from memory, especially a poem or speech
- Reconcile: Restore friendly relations or bring opposing sides into agreement
- Reconstitute: Form something again by putting its parts back together
- Recoup: Get back something that was lost or spent, especially money
- Recuperate: Recover strength, health, or energy after illness or difficulty
- Rectify: Correct a mistake or fix a wrong situation
- Recur: Happen again, often more than once
- Redact: Remove or hide sensitive information from a document
- Redefine: Change the meaning or limits of something
- Redress: Correct a wrong or unfair situation
In her speech, she reaffirmed the country’s commitment to peace in the region.
It is one of several policies the government has introduced to redress the balance between large corporations and small businesses.
- Refine: Improve something by making it more precise, pure, or effective
- Reform: Change something to improve it or correct problems
- Refrain: Choose not to do something, often deliberately
- Refurbish: Repair and improve something so it looks or works better
- Refute: Prove that a claim or argument is false
- Regress: Return to an earlier or less developed state
- Rehabilitate: Help a person or system return to normal or healthy functioning
- Rehash: Repeat ideas or information that are already known
- Reimburse: Pay someone back for money they have spent
- Reinforce: Strengthen something or make it more effective
- Reinstate: Bring something back into use or restore a previous position
- Reinterpret: Explain something in a new or different way
- Reiterate: Say or state something again, often for emphasis
- Relapse: Fall back into a previous bad condition or behavior
- Relegate: Move something or someone to a lower or less important position
- Relinquish: Give up control or possession of something
- Remedy: Fix or improve a problem or difficult situation
- Remonstrate: Express strong disagreement or protest
- Render: Cause something to become a certain state or condition
- Renege: Fail to keep a promise or agreement
- Renounce: Formally give up a claim, belief, or right
Instead of being relegated to a lower-level role, she chose to leave the company.
We are suing the company because they reneged on our agreement to cover the additional costs we incurred.
- Repatriate: Send someone back to their own country
- Replenish: Fill something again after it has been used up
- Replicate: Make a copy of something or repeat it closely
- Repose: Lie or rest in a calm or comfortable position
- Repress: Hold back thoughts, feelings, or actions
- Reprieve: Delay a punishment or give temporary relief
- Reprimand: Speak to someone sharply for doing something wrong
- Reproach: Express disappointment or blame toward someone
- Reprove: Criticize someone for improper behavior, often formally
- Repudiate: Refuse to accept or be associated with something
- Repulse: Cause strong dislike or push something away
- Rescind: Officially cancel or take back a decision or agreement
- Resonate: Produce a deep effect or feeling of connection
- Restrain: Prevent someone or something from acting freely
- Retrench: Reduce costs or activities, often to save resources
- Restructure: Organize something again in a new way
- Resurrect: Bring something back after it has disappeared or ended
- Resuscitate: Make something successful again, or make someone breathe again
- Retaliate: Respond to harm or attack with similar action
- Retrieve: Get something back or bring it from a place
Perhaps we shouldn’t be too quick to reproach him until we have more information about who’s to blame.
Meanwhile, consumers are retrenching as the economy falters and unemployment continues to rise.
- Reverberate: Echo or continue to sound, or have a lasting effect
- Revere: Feel deep respect or admiration for someone or something
- Revert: Return to an earlier state or condition
- Revise: Change or improve something after reviewing it
- Revoke: Officially take back a right, rule, or decision
- Ruminate: Think deeply and carefully about something
- Rusticate: Send someone away from a school or organization as punishment
Most people soon revert to their old habits after making New Year’s resolutions.
The judge upheld the decision to revoke the restaurant’s license to serve alcohol.
Frequently asked questions about verbs that start with R
- What are some irregular verbs that start with R?
-
Some commonly used irregular verbs that start with R are:
- Ride — rode — ridden
- Ring — rang — rung
- Rise — rose — risen
- Run — ran — run
QuillBot’s free AI Chat can give you a longer list of irregular verbs that start with R.
- What are some long verbs that start with R?
-
Some long verbs that start with R are:
- Revolutionize
- Rehabilitate
- Recapitulate
- Reconstitute
- Reinvigorate
If you’re looking for verbs starting with a specific letter, why not ask QuillBot’s free AI Chat ?
- What are some phrasal verbs that start with R?
-
Some phrasal verbs that start with R are:
- Rack up
- Roll out
- Run across
- Run into
- Run out
- Run over
- Run up
- Run up against
For more phrasal verbs starting with R and their definitions, ask QuillBot’s free AI Chat
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Challenger, T. (2026, January 28). 110 Verbs That Start With R | Definitions & Examples. Quillbot. Retrieved February 8, 2026, from https://quillbot.com/blog/word-finder/verbs-that-start-with-r/
