convert 1 of 2

1
as in to influence
to persuade to change to one's religious faith young missionaries who go door-to-door trying to convert people

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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convert

2 of 2

noun

Synonym Chooser

How is the word convert different from other verbs like it?

Some common synonyms of convert are metamorphose, transfigure, transform, transmogrify, and transmute. While all these words mean "to change a thing into a different thing," convert implies a change fitting something for a new or different use or function.

converted the study into a nursery

When is it sensible to use metamorphose instead of convert?

The meanings of metamorphose and convert largely overlap; however, metamorphose suggests an abrupt or startling change induced by or as if by magic or a supernatural power.

awkward girls metamorphosed into graceful ballerinas

In what contexts can transfigure take the place of convert?

The words transfigure and convert are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, transfigure implies a change that exalts or glorifies.

joy transfigured her face

When can transform be used instead of convert?

While the synonyms transform and convert are close in meaning, transform implies a major change in form, nature, or function.

transformed a small company into a corporate giant

When could transmogrify be used to replace convert?

The synonyms transmogrify and convert are sometimes interchangeable, but transmogrify suggests a strange or preposterous metamorphosis.

a story in which a frog is transmogrified into a prince

When would transmute be a good substitute for convert?

While in some cases nearly identical to convert, transmute implies transforming into a higher element or thing.

attempted to transmute lead into gold

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of convert
Verb
That’s a much easier, and much cheaper, demographic to convert than soccer fans in Brazil or Germany. Eben Novy-Williams, Sportico.com, 3 Sep. 2025 In another development, Northwestern University chemists developed a groundbreaking method that skips the time-consuming step of sorting plastics and directly converts stubborn single-use plastics into useful products like fuels, waxes, and lubricants. Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 3 Sep. 2025
Noun
His devout love for these sneakers has also turned my grandma into a convert, and now the two happily sport their Kiziks all over Thailand, walking from food stall to food stall. Alexandra Domrongchai, Travel + Leisure, 24 Aug. 2025 The band gains converts through immersion rather than instilling commitment through instruction or discourse. Chris R. Morgan, The Washington Examiner, 22 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for convert
Recent Examples of Synonyms for convert
Verb
  • Its proximity to its Southeast Asian neighbors, and the extensive migration between the countries, means Myanmar's distinctive culinary offerings are influenced by Thailand, Malaysia, Bangladesh and India.
    Sophie Carson, jsonline.com, 4 Sep. 2025
  • In a response posted to social media, Kennedy hit back at the pediatrics academy's criticism, implying that the organization's views were influenced by corporate pharmaceutical funders.
    Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA Today, 4 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Velasco adapted and transformed the classroom at Dishchii’bikoh Community School to match the curriculum.
    Erick Trevino, AZCentral.com, 7 Sep. 2025
  • Creator @tinalemac shared her step-by-step process for transforming a plain IKEA mirror into a high-end replica using nothing more than tin foil and air-dry clay.
    Elizabeth Fogarty, Better Homes & Gardens, 7 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • But much like Howard Jarvis feared, the tax-and-spend interests have sought to destroy Proposition 13 ever since, most recently by persuading courts to carve loopholes in its constitutional protections and invent new ways for government agencies to raise revenue.
    Jon Coupal, Oc Register, 7 Sep. 2025
  • Elizabeth Stage, whose Oakland hills home barely escaped the deadly 1991 firestorm, and whose work as president of the Oakland FireSafe Council involves persuading residents to adopt Zone 0 measures, said the study would be a helpful, persuasive tool.
    Ethan Baron, Mercury News, 7 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • That initial investigation led the HPD to obtain a search warrant to seize electronic devices from the property associated with the IP address of the cyber tip, and the department investigated online communications.
    Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 6 Sep. 2025
  • In addition, several firearms and drugs were seized from other residences, according to police.
    Jack Moore, ABC News, 6 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Several of the new signings have produced encouraging moments, but so far, none of them look like game-changing recruits and certainly none look ready to fill the voids left by those who have left.
    Steve Madeley, New York Times, 2 Sep. 2025
  • Offensive line coach Alex Mirabal said as much in late July, asserting that Okunlola — a former five-star recruit — could start at any ACC school.
    Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 1 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Trump and his hogmen are co-opting actual Nazi lingo from the gutter of the internet, speaking in references only Fox News viewers and Q-Anon adherents can parse, and rehabilitating the r-word as some sort of edgy pose that the rest of us learned was cruel in middle school.
    James Folta, Literary Hub, 4 Sep. 2025
  • After the Great Black Migration in the 1920s, our city was one of the centers of the Ku Klux Klan’s revival as the strongest populist movement of the decade, claiming 5 million adherents, with 50,000 in Chicago alone.
    Jackson Potter, Chicago Tribune, 28 Aug. 2025
Verb
  • In the Mormon church, young adult men volunteer to leave home for proselytizing missions for two years and young women serve for 18 months.
    Jillian Frankel, People.com, 26 Aug. 2025
  • Riley, a Northern California native, who has always exuded a Zen-like geniality, was part of a generation of young American composers who had turned away from audience-alienating atonal music, which had been proselytized by their teachers in the science-minded postwar academy.
    William Robin, New Yorker, 26 Aug. 2025
Verb
  • While speaking on a panel at the opening of the movie, which details the life and career of actor John Candy, who died at 43 in 1994, Reynolds revealed that his 2-year-old son, Olin, played a key part in convincing Bill Murray, 74, to have a role in the documentary.
    Becca Longmire, PEOPLE, 5 Sep. 2025
  • His life was going nowhere, until his brother Scott dragged him off the couch and convinced Dean to sign up with his acting coach, Bill Esper.
    Nate Jones, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Convert.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/convert. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.

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