The director reworked the play several times

Question

The director reworked/revised/modified the play several times before he was satisfied with it.

Could I use "revised/modified" to replace "reworked" in the above without making a change in meaning? Thanks.

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

The director reworked/revised/modified the play several times before he was satisfied with it.

Could I use "revised/modified" to replace "reworked" in the above without making a change in meaning? They are often interchanged, but here are a few comments.

reworked This suggests that all or a lot of the original work was done again. It sounds like the whole play was changed. It's also a slightly informal word.

revised This does not really give a clear idea of the extent of the changes, eg maybe major, maybe not.

modified This does not have the idea that every part of the play was changed, eg perhaps just the final scene was changed.

Clive

Anonymous · Answer

These words all have a similar meaning in this sentence, but each is slightly different.

"Reworked" seems to suggest that the director made more changes than do "modified" and "revised", but really they are all very similar.

Angliholic · Answer

Thanks, Clive and Anon.

Got it.

The director reworked the play several times

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