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

Partnerships have been particularly intense and transformative in recent years, Leo, and that energy is going to grow going forward. —Kyle Thomas, PEOPLE, 7 Dec. 2025

So that sounds intense and transformative. —Brian Hiatt, Rolling Stone, 7 Dec. 2025

LeBron James joining the Miami Heat for four years in the 2010s was transformative, the biggest thing in American sports then. —Miami Herald, 7 Dec. 2025

Her namesake line, Shani Darden Skin Care, extends her studio expertise into transformative, everyday home routines. —Ryma Chikhoune, Footwear News, 7 Dec. 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