transfigure

[trans-fig-yer, -fig-er]

verb (used with object)

transfigured, transfiguring 

1. to change in outward form or appearance; transform.

   Synonyms: renew, transmute

2. to change so as to glorify or exalt.

transfigure

/ trænsˈfɪɡə /

verb

1. to change or cause to change in appearance

2. to become or cause to become more exalted

Other Word Forms

• transfigurement noun
• untransfigured adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of transfigure¹

1250–1300; Middle English transfiguren < Latin trānsfigūrāre to change in shape. See trans-, figure

Word History and Origins

Origin of transfigure¹

C13: from Latin transfigūrāre , from _trans- + figūra appearance

Example Sentences

The result was, if not a religious experience, then a spiritually transfiguring one.

From Los Angeles Times

His inauguration was a ritual of devotion, an arena where the less powerful — which means practically everybody — was transfigured by his presence.

From Salon

At the instant the lunar disk slips entirely over the solar disk, the sun is abruptly transfigured into a foreign object.

From Los Angeles Times

Art transfigures life but, for every great work of art, there are casualties.

From New York Times

To transfigure a human villain into a demonic one, ostensibly the ultimate moral indictment, in practice amounts to a kind of cinematic vindication.

From Los Angeles Times