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
  • Diversity and reinvention Just as American culture is continuously mutating, American music is constantly being reinvented.
    Ted Olson, The Conversation, 2 July 2026
  • Virus strains may also mutate to spread less efficiently or become less deadly, meaning this outbreak may ultimately pose little threat to human health.
    Ryan Brennan, Kansas City Star, 1 July 2026
Verb
  • Working on his audio venture makes Jacob more narcissistic and less socially competent; the podcast deforms his understanding of what friends are for.
    Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 13 July 2026
  • Beneath that sits a tough magnesium alloy layer, followed by a hyper-elastic foam that deforms heavily to swallow the brunt of the kinetic shock waves.
    Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 10 July 2026
Verb
  • Chris Brown was found liable by a Los Angeles jury on Tuesday for $13 million in the gruesome case of a dog that mauled and disfigured his housekeeper at his home in 2020.
    Chris Willman, Variety, 1 July 2026
  • The Yellow Death has disfigured the population, and soldiers in white-and-red tunics serve the savage Duke of Tviot.
    Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 30 June 2026
Verb
  • Century is redefining ultra-luxury through Japanese craftsmanship.
    Peter Lyon, Forbes.com, 11 July 2026
  • The heat wave also redefined the city’s emergency response and disaster preparedness.
    Kori Rumore, Chicago Tribune, 11 July 2026
Verb
  • Nigeria rejected the International Monetary Fund’s finding that the country has engaged in extra-budgetary public spending that distorts its deficit levels, blaming poor interpretation of its financial reporting method for the misunderstanding.
    Alexander Onukwue, semafor.com, 10 July 2026
  • Hiding workforce-scale spend in IT line items avoids the conversation; treating it as labor distorts it.
    Priya Sawant, Forbes.com, 10 July 2026
Verb
  • Kingsoft Cloud is refashioning itself into an artificial intelligence cloud player — a move that should drive its shares higher, according to Morgan Stanley.
    Liz Napolitano, CNBC, 7 July 2026
  • But weathering the tensions and refashioning the alliance for the future will require more than billion-dollar deals and verbal diplomacy.
    The Christian Science Monitor, Christian Science Monitor, 7 July 2026
Verb
  • Rather than relying solely on smaller manufacturing nodes, Dongfang Suanxin aims to improve performance by redesigning how chips process and move data.
    Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 13 July 2026
  • In Milan, the historic Via Manzoni store was redesigned and soft-opened during Milan Design Week, with an official opening planned for September.
    Sofia Celeste, Footwear News, 10 July 2026
Verb
  • The exchange recently revised its rules for new public companies to become part of the index, allowing the space and AI company to be included within a month of going public.
    CJ Haddad, CNBC, 13 July 2026
  • The city will once again revise its sale of the Oakland Coliseum complex, transferring ownership of the East Bay’s most notable property to a development group that will no longer need to pay for all of it right away.
    Shomik Mukherjee, Mercury News, 13 July 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Transmogrify.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/transmogrify. Accessed 16 Jul. 2026.

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