transmogrify

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 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 Christians have been borrowing from other religions since the days when the pagan feast of Saturnalia transmogrified into Christmas and the Gaelic festival of Samhain became All Saints’ Day. The Economist, 24 Oct. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for transmogrify
Verb
  • Among the familiar faces fans will encounter are the heroine, Lucy, the Ghoul, and Maximus, as well as a gaggle of mutating and robotic foes.
    Simon Thompson, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2025
  • That means that bacteria would have to mutate at two spots at the same time to become resistant to this new drug.
    Beth Warren, The Tennessean, 21 Aug. 2025
Verb
  • The unmistakable signature of chilli thrips are blooms that look deformed, scorched, singed and burnt.
    Rita Perwich, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Sep. 2025
  • As a result, his vocals have a kind of stately yet starry-eyed quality, giving structure to these deformed, cosmic beats from the internet abyss.
    Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 3 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • The accident leaves him horrifically disfigured, but also gifts him with enhanced strength.
    Josh Weiss, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2025
  • Killing or seriously disfiguring a neighbor's plants can be grounds for a court battle.
    Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 22 Aug. 2025
Verb
  • The case could help redefine how National Guard troops can be deployed to help fight crime and quell disturbances.
    Bart Jansen, USA Today, 4 Sep. 2025
  • Known for redefining modern elegance, Armani dressed countless Hollywood stars and royals alike.
    Erin Hill, PEOPLE, 4 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • His team accused Whatley of distorting the facts to cover for his support of federal policies that reduced funding for local police.
    Samantha-Jo Roth, The Washington Examiner, 11 Sep. 2025
  • Beyond 100 people, culture often fragments, communication distorts and the founder’s vision weakens.
    Jonathan Low, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • When a gluten-free regular showed up craving pancakes—one of the few dishes on the menu that included wheat at the time—Garcia refashioned the recipe just for him.
    Bon Appétit Staff & Contributors, Bon Appetit Magazine, 20 Aug. 2025
  • But since then, Dodik has refashioned himself as an unrepentant nationalist, denying the genocide of 8,000 Bosniaks at Srebrenica in 1995, the war’s most notorious massacre, and often meeting with Putin in Moscow.
    Christian Edwards, CNN Money, 9 Aug. 2025
Verb
  • In 2024, Armani opened his company’s new building at 760 Madison Avenue in New York, which was entirely redesigned to include residential units, the new Giorgio Armani and Armani/Casa boutiques, and an Armani/Ristorante, which opened in November.
    Sofia Celeste, Footwear News, 4 Sep. 2025
  • Although YouTube redesigned those videos, the company allegedly did not overhaul its policy.
    Charna Flam, People.com, 3 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Moreover, the June count was revised lower to a loss of 13,000, the first monthly decline since December 2020.
    Jeff Cox, CNBC, 8 Sep. 2025
  • The jobs report from July shattered the narrative that the economy of 2025 was strong, revising previous figures downward and revealing something close to an 80% collapse in hiring, even as inflation crept upwards and layoffs rolled.
    Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 8 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Transmogrify.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/transmogrify. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.

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