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 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 See All Example Sentences for transmogrify
Recent Examples of Synonyms for transmogrify
Verb
  • Stars Gianna Jun as Professor Se-jeong, who is thrust into a bloody nightmare when a rapidly mutating virus is released during a biotech conference, causing authorities to seal the facility.
    Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 28 Aug. 2026
  • The Clash’s original line-up soldiered on until 1982, by which time punk rock had mutated into post-punk and new wave.
    The Week UK, TheWeek, 23 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • The Taylor cone was a sign that the electric field between a drop and metal had gotten strong enough to deform water.
    Jacek Krywko, ArsTechnica, 31 Aug. 2026
  • For instance, InSAR finds where something is changing, laser scanning shows how a structure is deforming, and GPR investigates what may be happening underneath it.
    Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 29 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • First, the proposals to sell off the major competitions had to be withdrawn and secondly, assurances have to be made that such attempts to disfigure the game in this way will never be made again.
    Rafael Nam, NPR, 6 Aug. 2026
  • Leprosy, which can be traced back at least 4,000 years, can be highly visible and disfiguring, with the primary symptoms including changes to the skin and nervous system that can take upward of 20 years to develop after exposure.
    Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA Today, 29 July 2026
Verb
  • The buildings that are thus given time to grow and develop, find their affinity to the site in that long dialogue, find their materiality and also sometimes redefine their purpose.
    Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 6 Sep. 2026
  • Those 12 minutes of shocking terror redefined the slasher genre.
    Michael Lee Simpson, Entertainment Weekly, 5 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • In the twenty-tens, modern investigations made clear that the work was in danger of becoming distorted by this display, which would need to be redesigned.
    John Phipps, New Yorker, 5 Sep. 2026
  • However, landmasses are greatly distorted toward the poles, particularly in the Northern Hemisphere.
    Jewel Bright, NPR, 4 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • An inactive bill on human remains has been revived in the final stretch of the state Legislature’s regular session and entirely refashioned to add a level of certainty to the Midway Rising mega project.
    Jennifer Van Grove, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Aug. 2026
  • After the abuses of Watergate, DOJ refashioned itself to resist political interference by the White House in the name of dispensing impartial justice.
    Quinta Jurecic, The Atlantic, 16 July 2026
Verb
  • Based on the oxygen-reaction findings, the researchers redesigned the operating voltage range and formation conditions for 40 Ah-class cells.
    Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 7 Sep. 2026
  • In the twenty-tens, modern investigations made clear that the work was in danger of becoming distorted by this display, which would need to be redesigned.
    John Phipps, New Yorker, 5 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • Contractors revised their plans, and additional testing was conducted to address community concerns about possible asbestos in the structure.
    Gabby Sartori, USA Today, 1 Sep. 2026
  • Top Plays from Bears @ Titans To be clear, the first version will likely be revised and massaged before the Bears arrive at their first meaningful practice of Week 1.
    Dan Wiederer, New York Times, 30 Aug. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Transmogrify.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/transmogrify. Accessed 9 Sep. 2026.

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