Regift means to take a gift one has received and in turn, give it to someone else as a gift. Regift has a negative connotation, as not only is the regifter showing a lack of appreciation for receiving the gift in the first place, the regifter is also showing a lack of effort in searching for and paying for a gift for someone else. As long as only a new item is regifted, the item is appropriate for the recipient and is rewrapped with the recipient in mind, it is a harmless and ecologically sound act. While the act of regifting is nothing new, the word regift was coined and popularized by the American television show Seinfeld in the 1990s, in an episode entitled The Label Maker. Regift may be used as a noun or a verb, related words are regifts, regifted, regifting, regifter. The hyphenated forms re-gift, re-gifts, re-gifted, re-gifting, re-gifter are sometimes seen, mostly outside the United States. Perhaps the ultimate item to regift is the fruitcake, there are many jokes concerning fruitcakes being regifted for years and years.
Examples
Oliver recommends using an office Secret Santa party to re-gift your present, because you never want to attempt re-gifting when the original person who gave you the item will be around. (The Wall Street Journal)
It almost goes without saying that if you’re going to regift, it should be a present that the recipient didn’t see you open or give to you (it happens!). (Money)
A new survey has revealed more than half of people will re-gift unwanted presents this Christmas – and unpleasant smelling toiletries are the first to go. (The Daily Mail)
Spokeswoman Lucy Nashed defended Miller by noting that the oranges were regifted, meaning that no taxpayer dollars were spent. (The Houston Chronicle)
As recipients of airline-branded socks or waste-water company t-shirts will confirm, the success of regifting becomes more problematic if the gift is emblazoned with a corporate logo. (The Australian Financial Review)