transmute

1. 1.

   change in outward structure or looks

   “He transformed into a monster”

   “The salesman metamorphosed into an ugly beetle”

   Synonymstransformmetamorphose

   Broaderchange

   Narroweraurifybecome
2. 2.

   change or alter in form, appearance, or nature

   “This experience transformed her completely”

   “She transformed the clay into a beautiful sculpture”

   “transubstantiate one element into another”

   Synonymstransformtransubstantiate

   Broaderchange

   Narrowertransubstantiatesorcerizestalinizedestalinizework
3. 3.

   alter the nature of (elements)

   Broaderchange

   chemistry

Other forms of transmute

past tense

transmuted·

present participle

transmuting·

third person

transmutes·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about transmute

What does transmute mean?

transmute means "change in outward structure or looks". That is the primary sense; the word has 3 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in transmute?

transmute has 2 syllables: tran-smute. The stress falls on "smute".

What is another word for transmute?

Close synonyms include transform, metamorphose, transform, transubstantiate. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is transmute a common word?

transmute is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.