modify
Americanverb (used with object)
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modifies,
present (3rd person singular)
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modified,
past participle, past
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modifying
present participle
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to change somewhat the form or qualities of; alter partially; amend.
to modify a contract.
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Grammar. (of a word, phrase, or clause) to stand in a syntactically subordinate relation to (another word, phrase, or clause), usually with descriptive, limiting, or particularizing meaning; be a modifier. In a good man, good modifies man.
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to be the modifier or attribute of.
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to change (a vowel) by umlaut.
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to reduce or lessen in degree or extent; moderate; soften.
to modify one's demands.
verb (used without object)
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modifies,
present (3rd person singular)
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modified,
past participle, past
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modifying
present participle
verb
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to change the structure, character, intent, etc, of
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to make less extreme or uncompromising
to modify a demand
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grammar (of a word or group of words) to bear the relation of modifier to (another word or group of words)
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linguistics to change (a vowel) by umlaut
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(intr) to be or become modified
Synonym Usage
Modify, qualify, temper suggest altering an original statement, condition, or the like, so as to avoid anything excessive or extreme. To modify is to alter in one or more particulars, generally in the direction of leniency or moderation: to modify demands, rates. To qualify is to restrict or limit by exceptions or conditions: to qualify one's praise, hopes. To temper is to alter the quality of something, generally so as to diminish its force or harshness: to temper one's criticism with humor.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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modifiabilitynoun
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modifiablenessnoun
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overmodifyverb
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remodifyverb
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premodifyverb (used with object)
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modifiableadjective
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nonmodifyingadjective
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unmodifiableadjective
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unmodifiedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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modifysimple
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modifiessimple
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have modifiedperfect
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has modifiedperfect
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am modifyingprogressive
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are modifyingprogressive
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is modifyingprogressive
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have been modifyingperfect progressive
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has been modifyingperfect progressive
Past
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modifiedsimple
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had modifiedperfect
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was modifyingprogressive
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were modifyingprogressive
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had been modifyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of modify
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English modifien, from Middle French modifier, from Latin modificāre “to impose a rule or pattern, regulate, restrain”; equivalent to mode 1 + -ify
Explanation
To modify is to change or transform, but only slightly. If you miss your free-throws half the time, your coach will probably try to improve your shooting average by modifying your technique. Modify may mean to alter something, but it's not a total makeover. When you modify or make modifications, you're making subtle changes. These tweaks are usually needed to make improvements or make the thing being modified less extreme. So you can modify your voice if your tone is too harsh, or modify your wardrobe with a few new pairs of cool shoes.
Vocabulary lists containing modify
Tier 2 Words for the SBAC ELA Items
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Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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Language and Grammar - Introductory
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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:
OpenAI acknowledged in late August that its models had sometimes tried, unsuccessfully, to erase or modify their own activity logs during internal tests.
From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026
“We had to modify the latter third of practice because these guys were just giving great effort and physicality, so we cut a couple things,” Redick said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2026
The group can produce or modify some weapons in Yemen, while relying on Iran for more sophisticated systems and technical assistance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
In Maine, Navatek was studying ways to modify small boats to reduce the “slamming” impact felt by passengers at high speeds.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026
I was hoping I could convince Matanzima to modify his policies.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
On Kalshi, Boss places 60 trades a minute and modifies his bids and asks 30 times a second.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 4, 2026
Developed in partnership with Gilead Sciences, the treatment is a so-called CAR-T therapy that extracts a patient’s T-cells and modifies them to target cancer cells.
From Barron's ● Dec. 9, 2025
NIH funding supported, among others, the development of CAR T cell therapy, which genetically modifies a patients’ own T-cells to fight cancer.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2025
In November, after various unsuccessful trials, Olivia was given a novel Car-T treatment – immunotherapy which genetically modifies a patient's T-cells to attack cancer.
From BBC ● Apr. 7, 2025
Many of our “symptoms” of disease actually represent ways in which some damned clever microbe modifies our bodies or our behavior such that we become enlisted to spread microbes.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
The team then modified 3B6 and tested numerous versions of the molecule, eventually identifying CS18 as the most effective candidate.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 23, 2026
Open-weight models are those whose parameters, or variables learned and adjusted during training, can be downloaded, run or modified by different developers.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026
Marines implanted an unwitting woman with a genetically modified embryo in order to produce one of its new class of supersoldiers.
From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026
The New York Times op-ed contract provides: “As a freelance contributor to The Times, you may not submit any material for publication that contains content generated, modified or enhanced by gen-A.I. tools.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
From the beginnings of literacy in China, it has had only a single writing system, whereas modern Europe uses dozens of modified alphabets.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
“We’re aware that some people are modifying their search queries, and we’re monitoring this behavior as we continue to evaluate ways to improve the search and ads experience,” a Pinterest spokesperson said in an email.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
A few times lately, I’ve caught myself modifying my own work to sound “less like A.I.”
From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026
Evolution does not aim for perfection; it works with what is available, modifying structures step by step.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 11, 2026
"I don't fully know what the gun was, because it was old... and Gramps did some modifying," he wrote.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
They seemed to be modifying their usual attitude of floating, chronic disapproval.
From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles
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.
