transfigure
verb
trans·fig·ure tran(t)s-ˈfi-gyər 
especially British -ˈfi-gə
transfigured; transfiguring
transitive verb
: to give a new and typically exalted or spiritual appearance to : transform outwardly and usually for the better
Synonyms
- alchemize
- convert
- make over
- metamorphose
- transform
- transmute
- transpose
- transubstantiate
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
Her face seemed transfigured by happiness. married life has seemingly transfigured his formerly aimless existence
Recent Examples on the Web Their sorcery can transfigure people and things, bestow good or bad luck, heal or hurt — or even offer protection from danger. 
New York Times, 10 Nov. 2021 Klagsbrun is known for paintings that flowingly interpret classical myths in which women transfigure into trees or flowers. Washington Post, 7 May 2021 For many, these numbers transfigured Covid-19 from something that might be a problem, to a near inevitability. C. Brandon Ogbunu, Wired, 18 Mar. 2020 Always the black angel asleep on my lips, alwaysThe dove’s moan in the mimosa tree,The blue faces of the twice transfiguredclosing their stone eyes. Dan Chiasson, The New Yorker, 4 Nov. 2019 Discovering the particular genre conventions that Obreht has chosen to transfigure or to uphold soon becomes central to the novel’s propulsive appeal. Francisco Cantú, The New Yorker, 12 Aug. 2019 Its story, about a fiery Scottish lass whose desire to fight and hunt like her father inadvertently leads her mother to be cursed and transfigured into a bear, is as interesting as the studio’s best. Allegra Frank, Vox, 27 June 2019 The slaughter transfigured North America's waterways. Ben Goldfarb, Science | AAAS, 7 June 2018 Yet unlike other Chameleon programs, this one took as its thematic subject the very idea of a historical sense, of composers turning to older vessels, filling them with new wine, and transfiguring them altogether in the process. Jeremy Eichler, BostonGlobe.com, 22 May 2018 See More
New York Times, 10 Nov. 2021 Klagsbrun is known for paintings that flowingly interpret classical myths in which women transfigure into trees or flowers. Washington Post, 7 May 2021 For many, these numbers transfigured Covid-19 from something that might be a problem, to a near inevitability. C. Brandon Ogbunu, Wired, 18 Mar. 2020 Always the black angel asleep on my lips, alwaysThe dove’s moan in the mimosa tree,The blue faces of the twice transfiguredclosing their stone eyes. Dan Chiasson, The New Yorker, 4 Nov. 2019 Discovering the particular genre conventions that Obreht has chosen to transfigure or to uphold soon becomes central to the novel’s propulsive appeal. Francisco Cantú, The New Yorker, 12 Aug. 2019 Its story, about a fiery Scottish lass whose desire to fight and hunt like her father inadvertently leads her mother to be cursed and transfigured into a bear, is as interesting as the studio’s best. Allegra Frank, Vox, 27 June 2019 The slaughter transfigured North America's waterways. Ben Goldfarb, Science | AAAS, 7 June 2018 Yet unlike other Chameleon programs, this one took as its thematic subject the very idea of a historical sense, of composers turning to older vessels, filling them with new wine, and transfiguring them altogether in the process. Jeremy Eichler, BostonGlobe.com, 22 May 2018 See More Word History
Etymology
Middle English, from Anglo-French transfigurer, from Latin transfigurare, from trans- + figurare to shape, fashion, from figura figure
First Known Use
14th century, in the meaning defined above
transfiguring
verb
as in transforming
to change in form, appearance, or use married life has seemingly transfigured his formerly aimless existence Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- transforming
- transmuting
- converting
- metamorphosing
- reworking
- remodeling
- transposing
- replacing
- adjusting
- altering
- transubstantiating
- modifying
- recasting
- alchemizing
- redesigning
- redefining
- refashioning
- disfiguring
- deforming
- mutating
- transmogrifying
- revising
- reengineering
- remaking
- regenerating
- distorting
- making over
- supplanting
- redoing
- revamping
- substituting
- varying
- displacing