mutate
Americanverb (used with object)
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mutates,
present (3rd person singular)
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mutated,
past participle, past
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mutating
present participle
-
to change; alter.
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Biology. to cause (a gene, cell, etc.) to undergo an alteration of one or more characteristics.
The disease mutates the retina’s rod cells, and they slowly stop working.
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Phonetics. to change by umlaut.
verb (used without object)
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mutates,
present (3rd person singular)
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mutated,
past participle, past
-
mutating
present participle
-
to undergo change.
It was a gamble to mutate from hard rock frontman to big band crooner, but he went seriously retro and won that bet in a huge way.
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Biology. (of a gene, cell, etc.) to undergo an alteration of one or more characteristics.
Drug-resistant cells mutate more quickly and could migrate into surrounding tissue.
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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mutatesimple
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mutatessimple
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have mutatedperfect
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has mutatedperfect
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am mutatingprogressive
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are mutatingprogressive
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is mutatingprogressive
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have been mutatingperfect progressive
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has been mutatingperfect progressive
Past
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mutatedsimple
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had mutatedperfect
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was mutatingprogressive
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were mutatingprogressive
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had been mutatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of mutate
First recorded in 1810–20; from Latin mūtātus, past participle of mūtare “to change”; see -ate 1
Explanation
To mutate is to change, especially genetically. When plants mutate, their genes change in a way that makes them look, grow, or reproduce differently. The word mutate comes up most often in biology, to describe the natural — or artificial — process of genetic change. If a scientist alters an animal’s DNA, for example, it mutates. Another way that scientists mutate organisms is in food production: often the genes in a plant are changed in a way that helps it resist insects or weeds, or makes it grow much larger than normal. The Latin root word of mutate is mutare, which simply means "to change."
Vocabulary lists containing mutate
Anything But Typical
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The Hot Zone
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Turtles All the Way Down
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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:
The Greeks understood that when daring and pride go too far, they mutate into reckless and self-destructive hubris.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
"We've converted vaccine development from being reactive to being future proof. Our vaccines will continue to provide protection against viruses even as they mutate into new strains," said Heeney.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 5, 2026
Genes can be expressed or activated, or not—more often they’re not; they mutate and can alter their own function and be altered by environmental forces.
From Slate ● Mar. 19, 2026
This gave H3N2 another chance to mutate, which is natural for viruses, and so it did.
From Salon ● Jan. 8, 2026
I ask, using an editing app to clone, enlarge, flip, skew, and totally mutate his picture until he looks like some bizarre freakoid.
From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali
“It’s a virus that mutates and against which people must be immunized over and over again.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
Most of the time the virus drifts along making minor changes and then every so often there is a sudden abrupt shift as the virus mutates substantially.
From BBC ● Nov. 8, 2025
Bird flu has already cost America billions — and if it mutates to allow for human-to-human transmission, the cost could soar into the hundreds of billions or even trillions of dollars.
From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2025
The COVID-19 virus, SARS-CoV-2, mutates often, learning to better transmit itself from person to person and evade immunity created by vaccinations and previous infections.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2025
It mutates even in the course of one infection, and a person who dies of hiv is usually infected with multiple strains, which have all arisen spontaneously as mutants in the body.
From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston
Scientists sequence the tumor to identify mutated proteins, which are also called neoantigens, and then create an mRNA strand using up to 34 of the neoantigens that they believe will produce the best immune response.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 21, 2026
Delaware Life mutated once Walter took over: Obscure private-credit deals grew to about 45% of its nearly $42 billion debt investments, compared with 9% in 2014, an analysis by The Wall Street Journal found.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
Even the endings feel like save points, with Alice respawning at the start of each consecutive movie with another mutated monkey on her back.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026
Flu hit early last winter, with a new mutated version of the virus circulating - a seasonal influenza called subclade K or Super-K.
From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026
Why had the beautiful fairy mutated into a revolting little devil?
From "Fablehaven" by Brandon Mull
"It keeps mutating in response to its environment," he says.
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026
Can some mutating DNA be the catalyst for a happy reunion?
From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2026
Successive governments have attempted to ban such groups, yet the problem has persisted with gangs mutating, rebranding and reappearing under new names each electoral cycle.
From BBC ● May 3, 2026
Stillness that is not still—think Martha Graham by way of Irving Penn, with a nod to Rei Kawakubo’s mutating forms.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 1, 2025
Ernie glared back in the mirror, picking at his face, a big pimple in the middle of his forehead like he was mutating into a unicorn.
From "As Brave As You" by Jason Reynolds
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
