mutate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to change; alter.
-
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.
-
Phonetics. to change by umlaut.
verb (used without object)
-
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.
-
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
-
mutatesimple
-
mutatessimple
-
have mutatedperfect
-
has mutatedperfect
-
am mutatingprogressive
-
are mutatingprogressive
-
is mutatingprogressive
-
have been mutatingperfect progressive
-
has been mutatingperfect progressive
Past
-
mutatedsimple
-
had mutatedperfect
-
was mutatingprogressive
-
were mutatingprogressive
-
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
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
The Hot Zone
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Turtles All the Way Down
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
"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
When hypergolic propellants burn, they release highly carcinogenic toxins and can cause suffocation and mutate a person’s DNA.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 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
The east African nation saw civil war in the 1990s mutate in the 2000s into an Islamist insurgency that still threatens much of the country.
From Barron's ● Nov. 24, 2025
“Cells mutate all the time. It’s not as unusual as they’d have you believe in the movies.”
From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste
“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
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
If that protein in the coronavirus changes or mutates then the body's protection is lessened.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2025
“You are absolutely right. This hummer has an established life cycle. You get into that what-if? game. What if it got into human lungs? If it mutates, it could be a problem. A big problem.”
From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston
According to the researchers, these mutated cells may create a more inflammatory and damaging environment than healthy microglia.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 12, 2026
But the alternative, as “Backrooms” so sagely implies, is remaining stuck in the past, letting ourselves be mutated and misremembered until we look nothing like us at all.
From Salon ● May 30, 2026
RevMed’s pill, daraxonrasib, targets a protein called RAS that, when mutated, fuels the majority of pancreatic tumors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026
That is because in 2024 it was revealed that the so-called "next Berlin patient" entered long-term remission despite receiving a transplant that did not have two copies of the mutated gene.
From Barron's ● Apr. 13, 2026
Why had the beautiful fairy mutated into a revolting little devil?
From "Fablehaven" by Brandon Mull
This is look No. 1 at the photo shoot for this story, and everyone in the room — producers, photo assistants, editors — stop to stare, little gasps mutating into big ones.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 7, 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
The Canadian electropop artist dances alongside a mutating array of Grok’s virtual AI companions.
From Salon ● Nov. 7, 2025
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
“Well, if it is mutating and if any of us have caught it, let’s hope it gives us a week or two before we lose our wits. Come on. Let’s get moving.”
From "The Kill Order (Maze Runner, Book Four; Origin)" by James Dashner
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.
