transmogrify

Definition of transmogrifynext

Synonym Chooser

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

Some common synonyms of transmogrify are convert, metamorphose, transfigure, transform, and transmute. While all these words mean "to change a thing into a different thing," transmogrify suggests a strange or preposterous metamorphosis.

a story in which a frog is transmogrified into a prince

When is convert a more appropriate choice than transmogrify?

While the synonyms convert and transmogrify are close in meaning, 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 transmogrify?

The meanings of metamorphose and transmogrify 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 transmogrify?

The synonyms transfigure and transmogrify are sometimes interchangeable, but transfigure implies a change that exalts or glorifies.

joy transfigured her face

When can transform be used instead of transmogrify?

While in some cases nearly identical to transmogrify, transform implies a major change in form, nature, or function.

transformed a small company into a corporate giant

When might transmute be a better fit than transmogrify?

In some situations, the words transmute and transmogrify are roughly equivalent. However, 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 transmogrify During the negotiations between Obama and Raúl, there was still the idea that somehow parts of the revolution—its socialist project—could be saved, and that Cuba could somehow transmogrify into a fairer, more modern place with a social cradle. Caroline Mimbs Nyce, New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2025 Unlike conventional corn syrup, a form of glucose derived from starch that has been around for over 200 years, high fructose corn syrup wasn’t developed until after World War II, when scientists in Japan began tinkering with the grain, hoping to transmogrify this staple into new products. Stephen Mihm, Mercury News, 5 Aug. 2025 In that freedom, hip-hop music transmogrified from songs to studies. Keith Nelson, Men's Health, 12 Apr. 2023 After 40 years of getting worked over, Mercury would be transmogrified, or almost magically altered, and totally kaput. Adam Hadhazy, Popular Mechanics, 7 Mar. 2023 Or change its identity or transmogrify into a different social function of a space. Erik Morse, Vogue, 31 Jan. 2023 For those looking to dig deeper, here are the best books that deconstruct, analyze, and even transmogrify the star known as Marilyn Monroe. Nathan Smith, Vulture, 23 Sep. 2022 For most basketball fans, that joy will transmogrify into disappointment, sadness or even fleeting anger once their favorite team is eliminated. Paul Eisenberg, chicagotribune.com, 21 Mar. 2021 In the 1980s and 1990s this transmogrified into an attack on science. Naomi Oreskes, Scientific American, 1 July 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for transmogrify
Verb
  • In more ways than one, this war has mutated into an ugly numbers game.
    Matthew Chance, CNN Money, 21 Feb. 2026
  • Rankings influence many disciplines and can mutate values as well as goals, leading academics to such unscholarly behaviors as plagiarizing others’ work, unintentionally manipulating data, or outright falsifying it.
    Big Think, Big Think, 20 Feb. 2026
Verb
  • Helmets, pads, or other devices could deform safely under sudden shocks or absorb energy during fast impacts to prevent injury.
    Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 24 Feb. 2026
  • Going to space is harsh on the human body, and as a new study from our research team finds, the brain shifts upward and backward and deforms inside the skull after spaceflight.
    Rachael Seidler, The Conversation, 11 Feb. 2026
Verb
  • The bodies were that disfigured.
    NBC news, NBC news, 1 Mar. 2026
  • Chatfield State Park has been damaged, disfigured, and stripped of healthy trees, over 6,000, with more to die.
    DP Opinion, Denver Post, 28 Feb. 2026
Verb
  • At this exclusive, high-energy event, the world’s most innovative leaders will convene to explore how AI, humanity, and strategy converge to redefine, again, the future of work.
    Glenn Gamboa, Fortune, 24 Feb. 2026
  • Hakuho was one of the few wrestlers not implicated, and his reign during this period was not only absolute but redefining.
    Joshua Hunt, Harpers Magazine, 24 Feb. 2026
Verb
  • His voice grew distorted as the microphone struggled to contain the decibels.
    Aidan McLaughlin, Vanity Fair, 25 Feb. 2026
  • Black history has been erased and distorted in this country from the beginning.
    Clint Smith, The Atlantic, 25 Feb. 2026
Verb
  • There are immeasurable ways to refashion cabbage into a craveable dish.
    Scott Hocker, TheWeek, 17 Feb. 2026
  • As streetcars gave way to private automobiles, the government built interstates and white flight swelled the suburbs, our city infrastructure was refashioned to favor cars.
    Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 16 Feb. 2026
Verb
  • The consultants will help their clients redesign workflows; integrate AI agents with software tools and systems; help clients with change management; and provide industry-specific expertise OpenAI doesn’t have in-house.
    Alexei Oreskovic, Fortune, 24 Feb. 2026
  • The husband and wife, who work in finance and government, respectively, met Jett through a mutual friend and approached him to redesign their Manhattan apartment.
    Sean Santiago, Architectural Digest, 19 Feb. 2026
Verb
  • Since then, members have revised it several times to clarify who has final authority and to keep the framework flexible.
    Chaya Tong, Austin American Statesman, 27 Feb. 2026
  • Russia revised its deterrence policy in 2024, lowering its bar for possible retaliation with nuclear weapons.
    John Leicester, Los Angeles Times, 27 Feb. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Transmogrify.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/transmogrify. Accessed 4 Mar. 2026.

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