transformative

adjective trans·for·ma·tive \ tran(t)s-ˈfȯr-mə-tiv \

|Updated on: 12 Jun 2018

Definition of transformative

: 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

See transformative defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of transformative from the Web

For a little more than 13 minutes, Bishop Curry reminded those in St. George’s Chapel and around the world of the radical and transformative power of love.

— candice benbow, Glamour, "My Bishop, Most Rev. Michael Curry, Just Changed the History of Royal Weddings—Here's Why His Sermon Matters," 19 May 2018
Buy Photo Every Pennsylvania election since President Trump won office has been transformative — and Tuesday’s primary was no different.

— holly otterbein, Philly.com, "The biggest winners and losers in Pennsylvania's 2018 primary election," 17 May 2018
The pop-surrealist and native Angeleno, known for her cute-meets-macabre style and, more recently, her dystopian interpretations of popular fairy tales, turned the psychologically transformative experience into a fairy tale all her own.

— gwynedd stuart, Los Angeles Magazine, "An Artist’s Terrifying Dental Surgeries Inspired This Fairy Tale About the Fear of Falling Apart," 17 May 2018
For that reason, the politics of representation—the idea that simply being present, being in the room, is somehow radical or transformative—seems insufficient.

— eve l. ewing, GQ, "Bomani Jones Has a Funny Joke for You," 15 May 2018
Now, the former JPMorgan Chase & Co. executive is focusing on another potentially transformative but unproven idea: blockchain, the technology underpinning bitcoin.

— david lazarus, latimes.com, "California Inc.: TV networks, eyeing big bucks, lay out prime-time plans for advertisers," 14 May 2018
This approach has been used in eight other patients who received transplants, such as arms, that were transformative but not lifesaving.

— karen weintraub, USA TODAY, "U.S. military veteran receives world's first total penis and scrotum transplant," 23 Apr. 2018
These photos, taken throughout the decade and into the 1980s, captured the heady and transformative mood of a young country.

— chris abani, The New Republic, "Capturing a lost era in Sanlé Sory’s studio portraits in Burkina Faso," 19 Apr. 2018
Leading up to the premiere, the performer hopes fans’ major takeaway is just how powerful and transformative theater can be.

— brianna wiest, Teen Vogue, ""Rise" Star Damon J. Gillespie Says the Show Tackles the "Truth" of Drama Club and High School," 13 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'transformative.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.