deform

1
[ dih-fawrm ]
See synonyms for: deformdeformed on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)
  1. to mar the natural form or shape of; put out of shape; disfigure: In cases where the drug was taken during pregnancy, its effects deformed the infants.

  2. to make ugly, ungraceful, or displeasing; mar the beauty of; spoil: The trees had been completely deformed by the force of the wind.

  1. to change the form of; transform.

  2. Geology, Mechanics. to subject to deformation: The metal was deformed under stress.

verb (used without object)
  1. to undergo deformation.

Origin of deform

1
1350–1400; Middle English deformen, from Latin dēfōrmāre, equivalent to dē-de- + fōrmāre “to shape, form” (see form)

synonym study For deform

1. See mar.

Other words for deform

Other words from deform

  • de·form·a·ble, adjective
  • de·form·a·bil·i·ty, noun
  • de·form·a·tive, adjective
  • de·form·er, noun
  • un·de·form·a·ble, adjective

Words Nearby deform

Other definitions for deform (2 of 2)

deform2
[ dih-fawrm ]

adjectiveArchaic.
  1. deformed; ugly.

Origin of deform

2
1350–1400; Middle English defo(u)rme<Latin dēformis, equivalent to dē-de- + -formis-form

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use deform in a sentence

  • Their genius travels over as many lines as there are lineaments in the figure, and the least false step would deform it.

    Buffon's Natural History. Volume IX (of 10) | Georges Louis Leclerc de Buffon
  • With all this they have a Pair of Stays which reaches down to394 their Waist, and renders them compleatly deform'd.

  • Were she deform'd,The virtues of her mind would force a stoic To sue to be her servant.

  • Only frankness can serve me here or make plain all that was secretly at work to deform the natural development of our lives.

    The Book of Susan | Lee Wilson Dodd
  • Our inheritance in many ways is precious and wonderful, but our human response can deform it.

    Herein is Love | Reuel L. Howe

British Dictionary definitions for deform

deform

/ (dɪˈfɔːm) /


verb
  1. to make or become misshapen or distorted

  2. (tr) to mar the beauty of; disfigure

  1. (tr) to subject or be subjected to a stress that causes a change of dimensions

Origin of deform

1
C15: from Latin dēformāre, from de- + forma shape, beauty

Derived forms of deform

  • deformable, adjective
  • deformability, noun
  • deformer, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012