life-changing

adjective

life-chang·​ing ˈlīf-ˌchān-jiŋ 

: having or capable of having a significant impact on someone's life

a life-changing career opportunity

a life-changing injury

… in 1986 he took a year off to travel. The experience was life-changing and led to his 1991 decision to pursue writing full-time.

—Carolyn Hart

(humorous) Made with fresh carrots, pineapple, a blend of warm spices and a homemade brown butter cream cheese frosting, this carrot cake recipe is life-changing …

—Jocelyn Delk Adams

Examples of life-changing in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Blagden hopes that, eventually, major cancers will be prevented with a simple doctor’s appointment to receive a life-changing injection. —Byryan Hogg, Fortune Europe, 24 Apr. 2024

Seeing Phish perform at Sphere in Las Vegas was life-changing for Drew Carey. —Jack Irvin, Peoplemag, 23 Apr. 2024

Read Next South Carolina Lottery player wins life-changing prize — then proposes to girlfriend. —Tanasia Kenney, Miami Herald, 22 Apr. 2024

Put simply, innovation and drug approvals beget more and better innovation and drug approvals — with life-changing results. —Jennifer Handt, STAT, 22 Apr. 2024

Ivan Korolenko’s path from a dirt poor neighborhood to becoming a highly experienced Frontend Tech Lead at a big tech company, an international IT corporation, showcases the life-changing possibilities of a life dedicated to knowledge and technological progress. —Tyler Shepherd, USA TODAY, 20 Apr. 2024

Bill Gates acknowledges that Microsoft’s miss in cell phones was life-changing for the company. —Bygeoff Colvin, Fortune, 20 Apr. 2024

This was life-changing for me, really seriously, in a big way. —Sydney Bucksbaum, EW.com, 18 Apr. 2024

Lucky Red Casino: Love the thrill of possibly winning a life-changing sum of money? —Sponsored Content, The Mercury News, 16 Apr. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1747, in the meaning defined above