metamorphosis
noun
Simple meaning
A change in the form and often habits of an animal after the embryonic stage during normal development.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
mehtuhmawrfuhsuhsSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
mɛtəˈmɔɹfəsəs
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
biology
A change in the form and often habits of an animal after the embryonic stage during normal development (e.g. the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly or a tadpole into a frog).
A striking change in appearance or character or circumstances
“The metamorphosis of the old house into something new and exciting.”
A noticeable change in character, appearance, function, or condition.
The marked and rapid transformation of a larva into an adult that occurs in some animals
pathology
A change, usually degenerative, in the structure of a specific body tissue.
A transformation, such as one performed by magic.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A change in the form and often habits of an animal after the embryonic stage during normal development (e.g. the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly or a tadpole into a frog).
Used this way, metamorphosis is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a scientific use: it names something precisely within a field of study, so it appears in research and teaching more than in conversation.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Science
- Academic writing
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use metamorphosis
- “The metamorphosis of the old house into something new and exciting.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.