metamorphose
Americanverb (used with object)
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to change the form or nature of; transform.
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to subject to metamorphosis or metamorphism.
verb (used without object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of metamorphose
First recorded in 1570–80; back formation from metamorphosis
Explanation
If you've ever seen a caterpillar emerge from its cocoon transformed into a butterfly, you've watched it metamorphose, or change completely. Use the verb metamorphose to describe a total transformation, like an egg into a bird or a seed into a tomato plant. When someone or something changes in appearance, they also metamorphose, the way a messy kid does when he tucks in his shirt and combs his hair. The origins of the word metamorphose lie in the Greek meta, or "change," and morphe, "form."
Vocabulary lists containing metamorphose
Challenge, List 1
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Metamorphoses
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"Simon's Saga," Vocabulary from Episode 19
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Lightbox portraits metamorphose into 18th-century figures with stories to tell.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 6, 2026
As in, they'll be so desperate to keep the series alive in Melbourne on Saturday they'll metamorphose into a team of belligerence and belief - a band of brothers who will blow the Lions away.
From BBC • Jul. 20, 2025
Previous studies had found that smooth muscle cells metamorphose into different types of cells inside these atherosclerotic plaques and multiply to make up most cells within the plaques.
From Science Daily • May 1, 2024
The axolotl is one of four central Mexico species that rarely, if ever, metamorphose in the wild.
From Science Magazine • May 8, 2023
She will metamorphose into a wife or consort and raise faerie children who will adore and outlive her.
From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
