mutant
Americanadjective
noun
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of mutant
1900–05; < Latin mūtant- (stem of mūtāns ), present participle of mūtāre to change; see -ant
Compare meaning
How does mutant compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
When an animal's genes change, or mutate, the new form of the animal that results is a mutant. One example of such a mutant is a blue lobster. Another is the teenage mutant ninja turtle. You can use the scientific term mutant for any plant or animal that's the result of a change, or mutation, in the DNA of that organism. When the word is used as an adjective, it describes something having to do with this kind of mutation, like a mutant chromosome or a mutant lobster. Mutant stems from the Latin mutantem, which means "changing."
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.
Peter Nowell, a pathologist, argued in 1976 that cancers arise from a single mutant cell and then evolve, as offspring acquire new mutations and compete for dominance—a prediction that single-cell sequencing has dramatically confirmed.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 20, 2026
By deleting the e2 component from the mutant gene, the researchers evaluated how the cells responded.
From Science Daily • Mar. 6, 2026
More recently, he appeared in “Fallout” just long enough for his character to be mauled to death by a mutant bear.
From Salon • Jan. 15, 2026
Prior to Disney’s acquisition of Fox in 2019, the iconic mutant superhero team headlined its own franchise, which kicked off with the 2000 film “X-Men.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 6, 2026
That switch altered the folding of the hemoglobin chain: rather than twisting into its neatly articulated, clasplike structure, the mutant hemoglobin protein accumulated in stringlike clumps within red cells.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
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.
