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
  • Zhang, of Purdue, studies bioelectrical signaling in zebra fish, which develop striking extra-long tails when a certain ion channel is mutated.
    Elise Cutts, Quanta Magazine, 12 Jan. 2026
  • However, cases have sharply risen since 2021, likely due to a combination of mutating bacteria and declining rates of vaccination overall, especially among teens getting a booster dose for bacterial meningitis, doctors suggest.
    Kaitlin Sullivan, NBC news, 11 Jan. 2026
Verb
  • The research team attributed their results to how tiny defects, known as dislocations, move when a metal deforms.
    Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 12 Jan. 2026
  • American bases built inside the ice sheet, such as Camp Century, were quickly crushed as the encasing snow deformed.
    Paul Bierman, Washington Post, 7 Jan. 2026
Verb
  • Many patients who file lawsuits blame disfiguring injuries on what happened after their operations, such as office visits in which medical staff allegedly didn’t recognize, or dismissed, evidence of worsening surgical complications, court records show.
    Fred Schulte, Miami Herald, 30 Dec. 2025
  • His body had been subjected to disfiguring violence—not just beaten but run over repeatedly with his own car and partially burned—and many suspected a Mafia-style revenge killing.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 18 Dec. 2025
Verb
  • Success then gets redefined beyond what’s immediately visible, and goals align with realistic capacity instead of aspirational timelines.
    Caroline Castrillon, Forbes.com, 20 Jan. 2026
  • Logan Maxwell Hagege is among a generation of painters redefining Western Art for the present age, adding a decidedly contemporary edge to the populist genre that has kept its appeal in these parts for well over a century now.
    Ray Mark Rinaldi, Denver Post, 20 Jan. 2026
Verb
  • During cross-examination, the defense tried to cast doubt on the reliability of Flores’ testimony, suggesting that the trauma might have distorted her memories of the shooting.
    Peter Charalambous, ABC News, 14 Jan. 2026
  • The distorting design of the Senate and the Electoral College, the filibuster’s persistence, and centralized leadership have all contributed to legislative ossification.
    Duncan Hosie, The Atlantic, 13 Jan. 2026
Verb
  • That’s how an in-world textbook from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone became a fundraising tie-in that launched a full-fledged trilogy of shoddy Fantastic Beasts movies, and why the books are being refashioned into what HBO envisions as a decade-long TV series.
    Erik Adams, The Atlantic, 18 Jan. 2026
  • Like emotional labor, doing this labor of refashioning the body, wardrobe, and overall appearance in order to conform to organizational standards is not necessarily a brand-new aspect of the modern workplace.
    Adia Harvey Wingfield, Forbes.com, 16 Jan. 2026
Verb
  • Instead of accepting that friction, 小宁子 XNZ chose to redesign the experience from scratch.
    Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 20 Jan. 2026
  • Made up of several former maids’ rooms with strange proportions, this 323-square-foot Paris apartment that Atelier Opale recently redesigned started off confused and charmless.
    Annabelle Dufraigne, Architectural Digest, 20 Jan. 2026
Verb
  • The department has also revised its deployment decision matrix during red flag conditions, allowing for earlier and heavier pre-deployment of resources when extreme winds, low humidity and high temperatures converge.
    Teresa Liu, Daily News, 13 Jan. 2026
  • The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which determined each year's nominees until they were deposed as the deciding committee in 2022 in the wake of a scandal, revised its rules around animation in 2014.
    Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 12 Jan. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Transmogrify.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/transmogrify. Accessed 22 Jan. 2026.

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