self-transformation

noun

self-trans·​for·​ma·​tion ˌself-ˌtran(t)s-fər-ˈmā-shən 

-fȯr-

plural self-transformations

: the act, process, or result of transforming oneself

And then, like an epiphany, [Cindy] Fricke's self-acceptance sparked self-transformation. … Fricke lost 130 pounds in one year, while feeling "this time was different."

—Cate Jones

Ahead is my step-by-step guide for going on your own journey of self-transformation, without the fear of having to shave your whole head after a slip of the scissors.

—Maia Rabenold

especially : a transforming of one's own thoughts, actions, or behavior

spiritual self-transformation

My abiding faith in the possibility of self-transformation propelled me from one therapist to the next …

—Daphne Merkin

self-transformational

ˌself-ˌtran(t)s-fər-ˈmā-shnəl 

-fȯr-

-shə-nᵊl

adjective

self-transformational experiences

self-transformative

ˌself-tran(t)s-ˈfȯr-mə-tiv 

adjective

a self-transformative process

self-transforming

ˌself-tran(t)s-ˈfȯr-miŋ 

adjective

… cosmetic surgery, fad diets and other self-transforming regimes …

—Alexander Fury

Examples of self-transformation in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In 2016, Pettitt published what turned out to be something between a guidebook to traditional womanhood and a memoir of self-transformation through faith. —Sophie Elmhirst, The New Yorker, 29 Mar. 2024

No formal experiment was conducted to verify this, but the book applied this 21-day timeline to self-transformation in many other wide-ranging aspects of life. —Jocelyn Solis-Moreira, Scientific American, 24 Jan. 2024

His climb was meant to crown a season of self-transformation. —Tad Friend, The New Yorker, 4 Dec. 2023

The book is, in equal parts, a memoir, a design journal, a travel guide, a blueprint for starting one’s own business, and even a guide to adopting a spiritual practice, which became an integral—if unexpected—component of Martin’s own self-transformation and assimilation abroad. —Laura Neilson, Vogue, 17 Oct. 2023

Shifting gears towards Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), ditches 1989‘s self-transformations and whirlwind romance snapshots for Speak Now‘s similar, much younger, navigations of early adulthood and all that entails. —Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 17 Mar. 2023

This is a hymn to restlessness and self-transformation. —Michael Stillwell, Town & Country, 14 Mar. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1835, in the meaning defined above