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
  • 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
  • Of these, 16 of them proved to be viable and able to kill certain strains of Escherichia coli—including strains of the bacterium that had mutated to be resistant to the original reference genome of ΦX174.
    Adam Kovac, Scientific American, 7 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • Parts on Repkon machines deformed, leading a worker to discover that they were made with Chinese steel, possibly in violation of federal regulations.
    Jesse Coburn, ProPublica, 12 Aug. 2026
  • The liquid metal provides an electrical pathway that can deform with the surrounding rubber-like material instead of snapping when the skin bends or stretches.
    New Atlas, New Atlas, 4 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
  • Since her start in the music industry in the 1960s, Parton used her working-class roots and rhinestone personality to redefine what success in the country music world could look like.
    CT Jones, Rolling Stone, 28 Aug. 2026
  • With help from an interior designer, a former architect transformed her Maine beach house into a colorful retreat that redefines coastal style.
    Ella Field, Better Homes & Gardens, 25 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • Because of its large field of view, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will help researchers better understand dark matter by capturing how the phenomenon's gravity bends light and distorts a galaxy's shape.
    Matthew Glasser, ABC News, 29 Aug. 2026
  • Yiannopoulos resigned from Breitbart amid the backlash and offered a rare apology but said the media distorted his comments.
    Eduardo Cuevas, CNN Money, 29 Aug. 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
  • For a traditional company with decades of legacy systems, using AI to redesign a core process may represent a major departure from the norm.
    Jeff DeGraff, Fortune, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Federal courts considering the order have already found core sections legally void, ultra vires and likely unconstitutional, concluding that the executive branch has no authority to unilaterally redesign mail voting rules.
    Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 31 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • That new rule requires specific formatting for envelopes containing mail ballots — which may force some jurisdictions to completely revise theirs — and makes states use an electronic system to identify to the Postal Service who is voting by mail.
    Nicholas Riccardi, Chicago Tribune, 25 Aug. 2026
  • This story has been revised to reflect that bidding for properties in June posted its strongest monthly improvement in a year, according to JLL.
    Diana Olick, CNBC, 25 Aug. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Transmogrify.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/transmogrify. Accessed 2 Sep. 2026.

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