Standard Lemma guide

life-changing

adj · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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/ˈlaɪfˌt͡ʃeɪnd͡ʒɪŋ/
Mid-Atlantic, US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET: L AY1 F CH EY2 N JH IH0 NG Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

adj

Meaning 1

Having a significant effect on the course of one's life.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

My trek across the Amazon was a life-changing event.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

adj

Meaning 2

Causing disability.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: euphemistic

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From life + changing.

Across languages

Translations

6 source translations are retained for this English entry.

Dutch: levensveranderend — having a significant effect on the course of one's life
Finnish: elämän muuttava — having a significant effect on the course of one's life
French: qui change la vie — having a significant effect on the course of one's life
German: lebensverändernd — having a significant effect on the course of one's life
Greek: καθοριστικός (kathoristikós) — having a significant effect on the course of one's life
Polish: zmieniający życie — having a significant effect on the course of one's life

Word forms

Inflections and variants

more life-changing — comparative
most life-changing — superlative
lifechanging — alternative

Word family

Derived and related words

Derived: life-changingly, wife-changing

Related: life change

Semantic map

Other relationships

Sources

Where this information comes from

Wiktionary data was expanded into structured fields by Wiktextract. Matching Princeton WordNet definitions and semantic relationships, plus CMUdict ARPABET pronunciations, are merged into this same canonical word page.

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Changes made: Wiktionary markup was removed and matching senses were grouped; WordNet and CMUdict evidence was merged into the canonical word page. Source quotations with separate cited works are not republished.

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Real reading context

Examples

Meaning relationships

Meaning relationships

life-changing in complete knowledge articles