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

But for all the high talk, investment in innovation, especially in transformative water technologies, remains low. —Eyal Harel, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2025

For both the participants and the organization as a whole, the results were transformative. —Nia Bowers, USA Today, 22 Aug. 2025

This transformative investment would also significantly relieve the crippling burden under which states and municipalities currently struggle to fund public education. —Martin M. Looney, Hartford Courant, 20 Aug. 2025

People who survive such moments often describe them as spiritually transformative, something that inspires belief in God and the afterlife. —John Blake, CNN Money, 17 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1668, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for transformative

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