shape-shifter

noun

shape-shift·​er ˈshāp-ˌshif-tər How to pronounce shape-shifter (audio)
: one that seems able to change form or identity at will
especially : a mythical figure that can assume different forms (as of animals)
shape-shift
ˈshāp-ˌshift How to pronounce shape-shifter (audio)
intransitive verb

Examples of shape-shifter in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Not only is it filled with hostile life-forms, but the planet itself is a shape-shifter — meaning its geography changes with each new mission. — ABC News, 24 Apr. 2026 This tangy shape-shifter has endured millennia of social and technological evolution and has emerged a culinary powerhouse many cooks can’t live or leaven without. — Emily Saladino, Bon Appetit Magazine, 20 Mar. 2026 While Coqotamat is a shape-shifter who wears the faces of a thousand women to lure children away and swallow them whole, the girls are running away from a fate that has been wearing the same face for generations. — Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019 One particularly compelling framework plays on the idea of the family—again, especially Kim, as cultural shape-shifters. — Literary Hub, 28 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for shape-shifter

Word History

First Known Use

1887, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of shape-shifter was in 1887

Rhymes for shape-shifter

See All Rhymes for shape-shifter

Browse Nearby Words

shaper
shape-shifter
shape target
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Cite this Entry

“Shape-shifter.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shape-shifter. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

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