transform implies a major change in form, nature, or function.
transformed a small company into a corporate giant
metamorphose suggests an abrupt or startling change induced by or as if by magic or a supernatural power.
awkward girls metamorphosed into graceful ballerinas
transmute implies transforming into a higher element or thing.
attempted to transmute lead into gold
convert implies a change fitting something for a new or different use or function.
converted the study into a nursery
transmogrify suggests a strange or preposterous metamorphosis.
a story in which a frog is transmogrified into a prince
transfigure implies a change that exalts or glorifies.
joy transfigured her face
Example Sentences
Verb A little creativity can transform an ordinary meal into a special event. The old factory has been transformed into an art gallery.
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
Brenner frames it as an opportunity to transform neighborhoods and address the crisis of vacant buildings in Baltimore, where the official count of vacant houses hovers around 15,000 (though many developers say the actual number is higher). Giacomo Bologna, Baltimore Sun, 6 Sep. 2022 The Big One is overdue, and experts have long warned that a mega-deluge, created by a relentless month-long rainstorm, could transform the Central Valley into a temporary inland sea. Ingfei Chen, The New Yorker, 6 Sep. 2022 The judges have been blown-away by seeing performers who have only the vaguest resemblance to them—a somewhat similar face and body shape—suddenly transform into their digital doppelgangers, right before their eyes. Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 6 Sep. 2022 It’s the flexibility to literally transform and go somewhere else and meet other characters and find other planets and discover new things. Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Sep. 2022 The university recently received its largest gift yet at $25 million to help transform its business school, as well a $10 million gift to build the new Dicke Hall, the university’s new home for the humanities. Danya Perez, San Antonio Express-News, 29 Aug. 2022 Longtime advocates say the money could transform the program, currently funded at $36 million, from a technical assistance office into a major source of tree planting and maintenance work. Tribune News Service, oregonlive, 28 Aug. 2022 Often, the greatest bottlenecks to meaningful change are the legacy data pipelines that were built to extract, transform and load data from systems of record into systems of insight. Adrian Bridgwater, Forbes, 26 Aug. 2022 The white flower heads usually transform to pink or tan as the weather cools. Sheryl Geerts, Better Homes & Gardens, 25 Aug. 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Verb
Middle English, from Middle French transformer, from Latin transformare, from trans- + formare to form, from forma form