transformative

adjective

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

: 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

This would be a simple yet transformative policy change that would democratize solar access, creating cleaner and cheaper electricity for all. —Calvin Ball, Baltimore Sun, 23 Jan. 2026

The relationship becomes stable, but not expansive; functional at large, but not transformative. —Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 23 Jan. 2026

Tracking gorillas in Rwanda, exploring Botswana’s Okavango Delta by water, and soaring over the Serengeti in a hot-air balloon—come along as three Condé Nast Traveler editors take you on their transformative journeys to Africa. —Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Jan. 2026

Proposition 36 enacted a transformative approach targeting these issues, mandating treatment programs for those suffering from addiction and increasing penalties for repeat theft offenders and those peddling deadly drugs like fentanyl. —Mike Hestrin, Oc Register, 22 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1668, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for transformative

• germinative
• corroborative
• determinative
• forgive
• ogive
• outlive
• relive
• give
• sieve
• resistive