deform.
Having an unusual and unattractive shape; deformed, misshapen; hence, hideous, ugly.
Meaning & usage
Having an unusual and unattractive shape; deformed, misshapen; hence, hideous, ugly.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English deforme (“out of shape, deformed”) [and other forms], from Middle French deforme (modern French difforme (“misshapen, deformed”)), or directly from its etymon Latin dēfōrmis (“departing physically from the correct shape, deformed, malformed, misshapen, ugly; (figuratively) departing morally from the correct quality, base, disgraceful, shameful, unbecoming”), from dē- (prefix meaning ‘away from; from’) + fōrma (“form, appearance, figure, shape; fine form, beauty; design, outline, plan; model, pattern; mould, stamp; (figuratively) kind, manner, sort”) (further etymology unknown; perhaps related to Ancient Greek μορφή (morphḗ, “form, shape; appearance; outline; kind, type”), probably from Pre-Greek, but there is no consensus) + -is (suffix forming adjectives of the third declension).
To change the form of (something), usually thus making it disordered or irregular; to give (something) an abnormal or unusual shape.
To change the form of (something), usually thus making it disordered or irregular; to give (something) an abnormal or unusual shape. To alter the shape of (something) by applying a force or stress.
To change the look of (something), usually thus making it imperfect or unattractive; to give (something) an abnormal or unusual appearance.
a face deformed by bitterness
To mar the character or quality of (something).
a marriage deformed by jealousy
To become changed in shape or misshapen.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English deformen (“to disfigure, distort, or mar; (figuratively) to disfigure morally; to defame; to dishonour”) [and other forms], equivalent to de- + form, from Old French deformer [and other forms] (modern French déformer (“to contort, distort, twist out of shape; (figuratively) to pervert”)), or directly from its etymon Latin dēfōrmāre (whence Medieval Latin difformāre), the present active infinitive of dēfōrmō (“to fashion, form; to delineate, describe; to design; to deform, disfigure; to mar, spoil”), from dē- (prefix meaning ‘away from; from’) + fōrmō (“to fashion, form, shape; to format”) (from fōrma (noun); see further at etymology 1). Cognates * Catalan deformar (“to deform”) * Italian deformare (“to deform; to distort, warp”) * Occitan deformar * Portuguese deformar (“to deform”) * Spanish deformar, desformar (“to deform, disfigure”)
Try it on your idea.
deform has 6 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.
These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.
Explore the name generatorA word with a source.
Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.