transfiguration

noun

trans·​fig·​u·​ra·​tion (ˌ)tran(t)s-ˌfi-gyə-ˈrā-shən 

-gə-

1

a

: a change in form or appearance : metamorphosis

b

: an exalting, glorifying, or spiritual change

2

capitalized : a Christian feast that commemorates the transfiguration of Christ on a mountaintop in the presence of three disciples and that is observed on August 6 in the Roman Catholic and some Eastern churches and on the Sunday before Lent in most Protestant churches

Did you know?

The Gospels relate that one day Jesus took three disciples up a mountain, where they witnessed his transfiguration into divine form: his face shone like the sun, his garments became brilliantly white, and a voice from heaven proclaimed that this was the son of God. Transfiguration was first used in English as the name of this biblical event, and the Feast of the Transfiguration remains the name of a holy day. So the word has always kept a somewhat religious—and almost always positive—tone. A face may be transfigured by joy, and an "ugly duckling" may be slowly transfigured into a radiant beauty. And as Harry Potter fans know, transfiguration is a subject long taught at the Hogwarts School by Minerva McGonagall.

Synonyms

• changeover
• conversion
• metamorphosis
• transformation

Examples of transfiguration in a Sentence

after his transfiguration into a Buddhist monk, all his family and friends were amazed by his newly found patience and tranquillity

Recent Examples on the Web

Perhaps there is no problem, or at least no problem not vastly outweighed by the tang of transfiguration. —Becca Rothfeld, The New Yorker, 17 Feb. 2024

Five, transfiguration is a way to overcome such unfairness. —WIRED, 25 Sep. 2023

An equally powerful transfiguration occurred through his encounter with the work of the Black American artist Romare Bearden. —Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 11 Aug. 2023

The billion-dollar Kardashian empire is built on paradoxes: the endless watchability of a family whose flat emotional timbre rarely wavers, the transfiguration of notoriety into a following that makes you (by Instagram metrics) the sixth-most-famous person on Earth. —Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 10 Oct. 2021

Specifically, what could be taken as the most obvious transfiguration of the St. John Passion, dramatizing the final hours of Jesus’s life: This Jesus is Black, richly and compellingly embodied by a powerful bass-baritone, guest artist Jonathan Woody. —Washington Post, 5 Apr. 2021

Tuesday, January 17 and Wednesday, January 18 at 8pm Theatre 301 COLLUSIONS OF GRANDEUR – transfiguration, by interdisciplinary artist and composer ALEXA GRÆ, is a surrealist multimedia opera engaging stories manifested through body evolutions. —Risa Sarachan, Forbes, 6 Jan. 2023

That is, nothing can be done until history is ended, in the transfiguration of the world through the parousia, the coming of Christ the King. —Michael Robbins, Harper’s Magazine , 9 Nov. 2022

Relating folk culture to death and transfiguration, Bercot transcends the triviality of most contemporary filmmaking. —Armond White, National Review, 2 Nov. 2022

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

transfiguration

noun

trans·​fig·​u·​ra·​tion (ˌ)tran(t)s-ˌfig-(y)ə-ˈrā-shən 

1

: a great change of form or appearance

especially : a change that beautifies, glorifies, or makes more spiritual

2

capitalized : a Christian festival celebrating Jesus' transfiguration on the mountain as witnessed by three of his disciples