Reformer
/rɪˈfɔrmər/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounOne who reforms, or who works for reform.
nounOne who was involved in the Reformation.
Sentence Examples
Many now remember Giscard as a reformer and a champion of European unity.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The brave social ____ worked hard to stop child labor in factories.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The social ____ dedicated her life to improving conditions for workers in the industrial cities.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree English reform Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzijos Latin -āriusnom. Latin -āriusbor. Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz Proto-West Germanic *-ārī Old English -ere Middle English -ere English -er English reformer From reform + -er.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Among the frontrunners before the conclave began were Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state; Luis Antonio Tagle, a reformer from the Philippines; Péter Erdő, a traditionalist from Hungary; Robert Sarah, a cardinal from Guinea who criticised Francis’s papacy; and the moderate US cardinal Robert Prevost."
— 2025 May 8, Angela Giuffrida and Harriet Sherwood, “White smoke from Sistine Chapel chimney signals election of new pope”, in The Guardian:
"[…] for I long to ſee a larke without a creaſt, and would travaile farre to diſcoover a reformer without a fault, […]"
— 1593, Gabriell Haruey [i.e., Gabriel Harvey], Pierces Supererogation: Or A New Prayse of the Old Asse. A Preparative to Certaine Larger Discourses, Intituled Nashes S. Fame, London: […] Iohn Wolfe, →OCLC; republished as John Payne Collier, editor, Pierces Supererogation: Or A New Prayse of the Old Asse. […] (Miscellaneous Tracts. Temp. Eliz. & Jac. I; no. 8), [London]: [s.n.], [1870], →OCLC, page 127:
"The fuel reformer works somewhat like catalytic converters in cars. In the gasoline reformer, vaporized gasoline is mixed with steam and air before traveling through a cylinder packed with the new Argonne catalyst. The result is a hydrogen-rich gas that is further processed in subsequent chemical steps and is then fed to the fuel cell."
— 2004, Evelyn Brown, “Argonne tests and creates the fuel cells to power the future”, in Evelyn Brown, editor, Logos, volume 22, number 1, page 15:
"Deisohexanizer bottoms are routed to the continuous reformer, where the octane of the stream is upgraded chiefly by conversion of naphthenes and paraffins to high octane aromatic compounds."
— 1979 December 26, Alaska Petrochemical Company, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Draft[:] Environmental Impact Statement, page 29:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The brave social ____ worked hard to stop child labor in factories.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The social ____ dedicated her life to improving conditions for workers in the industrial cities.