mutant
Americanadjective
noun
-
mutants
plural
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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.
See Examples For:
Arms out, fingers splayed, she takes a comic-book summoning pose familiar from decades of mutant movies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
“Heartstopper” star Kit Connor is reportedly Marvel Studios’ pick to play Scott Summers, the mutant hero also known as Cyclops, in its upcoming “X-Men” reboot.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
These mutant cells also lacked vesicles, small membrane-bound compartments that typically form inside the peroxisome during fatty acid processing.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 25, 2026
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
“I suppose that was a faulty comparison. It’s not for flies. It’s for mutant moles.”
From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles
The surface is now home to scavengers, soldiers, mutants, and ghouls, all doing their best to survive on spoiled food, brackish water, and whatever’s left in long-abandoned vending machines.
From Salon ● May 12, 2025
"It was a proper disaster, but it didn't cause strange glowing plants or mutants or dangerous cults to emerge."
From BBC ● Mar. 26, 2025
He endorsed normal Senate candidates over lab-born mutants in swing-state primaries, and stopped feuding with old enemies in the name of party unity.
From Slate ● Aug. 3, 2024
Magneto, a Holocaust survivor who is often the X-Men’s adversary, doesn’t believe humanity is capable of accepting mutants.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2024
Rather than mutants, he had created vast flocks of dead, and then infertile, flies.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
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