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
  • Operating somewhere between the steamy formlessness of Topdown Dialectic and the tactile throb of Shackleton, Vasin uncovers some of his most distinctive rhythms by mutating the space surrounding his samples.
    Sam Goldner, Pitchfork, 13 Apr. 2026
  • In an ironic twist, the American president became the regime’s midwife, forcing the old order to mutate and reinvent itself.
    Boris Muñoz, Time, 3 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • Kinks are critical in determining where a material deforms, appearing in situations such as metals bending permanently or DNA strands separating.
    Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 22 Mar. 2026
  • Don’t forget the gasp-inducing images of dicks mangled by one Dr. Loria in New York City, who has proudly refused malpractice insurance but allegedly left a number of men deformed after pumping them up with chunky-looking filler.
    Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 17 Mar. 2026
Verb
  • Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is severely disfigured after sustaining leg and face injuries during initial airstrikes on Tehran in February, Reuters reported earlier this week.
    Greg Norman-Diamond, FOXNews.com, 14 Apr. 2026
  • The state largely clamped down on exotic pet ownership after the 2009 chimpanzee attack on Charla Nash in a home in Stamford, which left her permanently blind and disfigured.
    Stephen Underwood, Hartford Courant, 7 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • The show itself redefined Broadway, blending hip-hop, history and a diverse cast to tell the story of America’s founding.
    Tereza Shkurtaj, PEOPLE, 12 Apr. 2026
  • The next Democratic nominee will redefine what their party stands for.
    Matt K. Lewis, Twin Cities, 12 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • Normalizing interactions where such limitations do not exist risks distorting the very standard by which human love is measured.
    Oluwaseun Damilola Sanwoolu, The Conversation, 14 Apr. 2026
  • The woman’s expression, painted in different shades of gray, is intentionally distorted in Picasso’s signature Cubist style.
    Jake McGowan, CNN Money, 11 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • Others were quick to point out that jewels from the royal collection are regularly refashioned and worn by multiple people, such as the Cullinan III and IV brooch that Queen Mary (Queen Elizabeth II’s grandmother) once wore as a necklace.
    Bailey Bujnosek, InStyle, 13 Mar. 2026
  • To what extent should these questions be overlooked if refashioning old movies will introduce them to new audiences?
    Holly Willis, The Conversation, 13 Mar. 2026
Verb
  • Back in Illinois, state lawmakers are considering a gun bill that would require pistol manufacturers to redesign models that can easily be turned into automatic weapons.
    Grace Miserocchi, Chicago Tribune, 11 Apr. 2026
  • Instead of redesigning the heat shield — which NASA will do for future missions — the agency opted to bring the capsule in on a steeper trajectory intended to inflict less stress on the materials.
    Noah Haggerty, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • In North Carolina, which is also seeing a surge of data centers, the largest utility is revising its long-term plans to delay the retirement of coal plants and to build more natural gas plants.
    Jessica Hill, Fortune, 9 Apr. 2026
  • The judge also found fault with the Pentagon’s attempt to revise an earlier policy that restricted journalists from soliciting information, classified or unclassified, that was not approved for release.
    Ted Johnson, Deadline, 9 Apr. 2026

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Cite this Entry

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

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