Deform

/dɪˈfɔːm/ · adjective

Meaning

(obsolete except poetic) Having an unusual and unattractive shape; deformed, misshapen; hence, hideous, ugly..

Definitions by Sense

1. (obsolete except poetic) Having an unusual and unattractive shape; deformed, misshapen; hence, hideous, ugly.
2. To change the form of (something), usually thus making it disordered or irregular; to give (something) an abnormal or unusual shape.
3. To change the look of (something), usually thus making it imperfect or unattractive; to give (something) an abnormal or unusual appearance.
4. To mar the character or quality of (something).
5. (intransitive) To become changed in shape or misshapen.

Example Sentences

[…] I did proclame, / That vvho ſo kild that monſter moſt deforme, / And him in hardy battayle ouercame, / Should haue mine onely daughter to his Dame, and of my kingdome heyre apparaunt bee: […]

Sight ſo deform what heart of Rock could long / Drie-ey’d behold?

The common overgrown vvith fern, and rough / VVith prickly goſs, that ſhapeleſs and deform / And dang’rous to the touch, has yet its bloom / And decks itſelf vvith ornaments of gold, / Yields no unpleaſing ramble; […]

Angela the old / Died palsy-twitch’d, with meagre face deform; […]

[W]hat is wanting to success, / If somehow every face, no matter how deform, / Evidence, to some one of hearts on earth, that, warm / Beneath the veriest ash, there hides a spark of soul / Which, quickened by love's breath, may yet pervade the whole / O' the grey, and, free again, be fire?

I that am curtaild of this faire proportion / Cheated of feature by diſſembling nature, / Deformd, vnfinisht, ſent before my time / Into this breathing vvorld ſcarce halfe made vp, / And that ſo lamely and vnfaſhionable, / That dogs barke at me as I halt by them: […]

They ſay this tovvne is full of coſenage: / As nimble Iuglers that deceiue the eie: / Darke vvorking Sorcerers that change the minde: / Soule-killing VVitches, that deforme the bodie: […]

[Y]ou muſt take care to keep the Bitt ſtraight to the Hole you pierce, leſt you deform the Hole, or break the Bitt.

Synonyms for deform

Antonyms for deform

Related Words

Word Forms

• more deform
• most deform
• deforms
• deforming
• deformed

Usage Notes

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