transformative

adjective

trans·​for·​ma·​tive tran(t)s-ˈfȯr-mə-tiv 

: causing or able to cause an important and lasting change in someone or something

a transformative experience

And she'll tell anyone who asks about her transformative weeks working for UNICEF in Congo and Cambodia.

—S. L. Price

It is increasingly hard to escape the conclusion that American politics has entered one of those rare transformative moments that shape the content of our public discourse and the direction of our governance for generations.

—Doug Ireland

Examples of transformative in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This selection in the Best International Feature category has the potential to be truly transformative for the film, opening doors to audiences around the world while shining a spotlight on Pegah’s extraordinary talent and her vital voice. — Brent Lang, IndieWire, 10 Oct. 2026

Particularly affecting is Millet’s portrayal of grief as an ongoing reshaping of identity rather than a single transformative event. — Literary Hub, 9 Oct. 2026

This isn’t the first time a transformative technology has inspired predictions of mass job displacement. — Mary Moreland, Fortune, 7 Oct. 2026

The desire for these transformative products was never innate, and LACMA’s exhibition zeroes in on that idea from the start. — Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1668, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for transformative

• germinative
• argive
• forgive
• ogive
• outlive
• relive
• corroborative
• determinative
• give
• sieve
• resistive