transmogrify
verb
Did you know?
We know that the prefix trans-, meaning “across” or “beyond,” appears in many words that evoke change, such as transform and transpire, but mogrify is a bit of a mystery. Regardless of the word’s origins, writers have found transmogrify useful for centuries. English dramatist Aphra Behn’s 1671 comic play The Amorous Prince features an early example of the word, and about a century later, Scottish poet Robert Burns used it in his poem “Address to the Unco Guid, or the Rigidly Righteous.” And in the late 20th century, cartoonist Bill Watterson’s comic strip series Calvin and Hobbes featured an invention called a “transmogrifier” (the first iteration was a cardboard box; later a water pistol was a “transmogrifier gun”) that had various transmogrification functions.
Examples of transmogrify in a Sentence
Keith Nelson, Men's Health, 12 Apr. 2023
In the 1980s and 1990s this transmogrified into an attack on science.
—Naomi Oreskes, Scientific American, 1 July 2020
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
Cady seduces like a snake, charming his victims into their demise, but can as quickly transmogrify into a deranged beast striking fear into the Bowden family during a torrential storm.
—Lea Anderson, Men's Health, 29 Aug. 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
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
Dictionary Entries Near transmogrify
Cite this Entry
“Transmogrify.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/transmogrify. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
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