transformative

adjective

trans·​for·​ma·​tive tran(t)s-ˈfȯr-mə-tiv How to pronounce transformative (audio)
: causing or able to cause an important and lasting change in someone or something
a transformative experience
And she'll tell anyone who asks about her transformative weeks working for UNICEF in Congo and Cambodia.S. L. Price
It is increasingly hard to escape the conclusion that American politics has entered one of those rare transformative moments that shape the content of our public discourse and the direction of our governance for generations.Doug Ireland

Examples of transformative in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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If the regime’s coercive structures were truly dismantled, Venezuela’s diaspora could play a transformative role in rebuilding their country. Richard Kiy, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Jan. 2026 Largely invisible at the time, especially compared with the vast Italian and Jewish migrations a century earlier, these influxes were ultimately just as transformative. Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 12 Jan. 2026 The more transformative results from this serum target dark spots and fine lines. Reece Andavolgyi, InStyle, 11 Jan. 2026 Bob Weir is rightly being remembered as a transformative figure whose guitar playing made an indelible contribution to the Grateful Dead, and to improvisational rock & roll at large. Alan Paul, Rolling Stone, 11 Jan. 2026 See All Example Sentences for transformative

Word History

First Known Use

1668, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of transformative was in 1668

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Cite this Entry

“Transformative.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/transformative. Accessed 15 Jan. 2026.

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