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

Decades ago, startups were underestimated as scrappy outsiders rather than transformative leaders. —Alex Goryachev, Forbes.com, 8 Aug. 2025

In addition to luck and abundance, this synergy can be incredibly transformative for your love life. —Valerie Mesa, People.com, 7 Aug. 2025

Nearly a year before the H20 was brought to market, OpenAI released a transformative large language model called o1, which employs the same kind of complex reasoning that the H20 chips were built to power. —Thomas Wright, The Atlantic, 6 Aug. 2025

Despite these uncertainties, the authors believe gen AI’s dual role—as a transformative platform and as a method for accelerating invention—bodes well for long-term economic growth if barriers to widespread adoption can be overcome. —Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 1 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1668, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for transformative

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