metamorphose
Americanverb (used with object)
-
metamorphoses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
metamorphosed,
past participle, past
-
metamorphosing
present participle
-
to change the form or nature of; transform.
-
to subject to metamorphosis or metamorphism.
verb (used without object)
-
metamorphoses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
metamorphosed,
past participle, past
-
metamorphosing
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
metamorphosesimple
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metamorphosessimple
-
have metamorphosedperfect
-
has metamorphosedperfect
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am metamorphosingprogressive
-
are metamorphosingprogressive
-
is metamorphosingprogressive
-
have been metamorphosingperfect progressive
-
has been metamorphosingperfect progressive
Past
-
metamorphosedsimple
-
had metamorphosedperfect
-
was metamorphosingprogressive
-
were metamorphosingprogressive
-
had been metamorphosingperfect progressive
Future
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.
See Examples For:
Near the summit they metamorphose into stone tree branches, interweaving like a forest canopy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 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
"Just like butterflies, corals also undergo different metamorphoses and stages."
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2025
Notably, music emerges as the most honest vehicle for them to bond over, and as the cinematic element that most closely parallels Freddie’s metamorphoses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 1, 2022
As Ernestine shuffles closer to a century of birthdays, the metamorphoses lean into emotional manipulation.
From New York Times ● Apr. 10, 2022
There are some metamorphoses you simply do not sign up to look in on.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 7, 2022
Olakunde shall be the Ovid of far Oyo, writing the tales of Africk metamorphoses; and Pomp recording his ghost stories for a winter night.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
What was once a cottage industry of such training has metamorphosed, with nearly every multifamily office, bank and peer-membership group offering its own version.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 1, 2026
The musicians metamorphosed into their final form: Adopting the name Black Sabbath, after a low-budget Boris Karloff film of the same name, they started writing lyrics that dabbled in death, black magic and mental illness.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2025
And this man once seen as a performative figure — a political sideshow — has metamorphosed into a towering and singular figure in America whose significance goes far beyond politics.
From Salon ● May 18, 2025
"These metamorphosed sedimentary rocks that have melted and produced granites that concentrate uranium and thorium are like black box flight recorders that record pressure and temperature," Smye said.
From Science Daily ● May 8, 2024
The imp instantly metamorphosed into a plump fairy with coppery wings.
From "Fablehaven" by Brandon Mull
"In the last 30 years my ideas around loss have been in a continuous state of metamorphosing," she writes.
From Salon ● Apr. 5, 2024
Ten years apart, the changes to his free-kick technique demonstrated how Bale could transform his game over the course of a stellar career; a player of rare - and metamorphosing - quality.
From BBC ● Nov. 16, 2022
That pitch had traveled its own Kafkaesque journey, metamorphosing as it went.
From New York Times ● Apr. 22, 2020
Peterson’s production — duskily lighted by Peter Maradudin on a quickly metamorphosing set by Myung Hee Cho and featuring a coordinated ensemble that grasps the feeling underlying the drama — has a discreet efficiency.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2019
We can never let up; we scramble our way through one civilization after another, metamorphosing, sprouting tools and cities everywhere, and all the time new words keep tumbling out.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
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.
