# shapeshifter
## English
### Alternative forms

* shape-shifter

### Etymology

From shape +‎ shifter.

### Pronunciation

* (UK) IPA: /ˈʃeɪpʃɪftə/
* (General American) IPA: /ˈʃeɪp.ʃɪf.tɚ/
* Audio (US):(file)

### Noun

shapeshifter (plural shapeshifters)
* (fantasy, mythology, science fiction) A person or creature capable of changing their appearance or form at will.
** 2000, Glen Cook, Water Sleeps:The shapeshifter Lisa Bowalk, unable to shed the guise of a black panther, had gone onto the plain as a prisoner but was not now to be found among the dead above or the Captured down below.
** 2003, Michael Bathgate, The Fox's Craft in Japanese Religion and Folklore: Shapeshifters, Transformations and Duplicities:Like the teller of shapeshifter stories—who conjures a shifting world of perceptions and expectations for his or her audience that is strikingly similar to the worlds created by the shapeshifter for its victims—the cultural practice of imagination...is an inherently shifty enterprise....
** 2004, Devin Grayson, Smallville: City:There have also been verified reports of fire-starters and ice-makers and a shapeshifter so powerful she was able to frame another Smallville citizen for a bank robbery!
** 2015 January 30, Dan Shive, “Comic for Friday, Jan 30, 2015”, in El Goonish Shive - EGS:NP‎, archived from the original on 13 August 2022:Granted, Grace is talking about actual transformation, but she's a shapeshifter. For her, growing a couple inches taller is like an alternative to wearing high heels.
** 2023 October 26, Mike McMahan, “The Inner Fight” (16:32 from the start), in Star Trek: Lower Decks‎, season 4, episode 9, spoken by Ma'ah (Jon Curry):“The Jem'Hadar? You fought the Dominion? Ah. The shapeshifters sent many warriors to Sto-vo-kor. I wish I could have seen it.” “No, you do not. There was no honor, just massacres.” “But in the end you were victorious.” “Starfleet is supposed to be about puzzling together the mysteries of life, not fighting wars. I don't want to be a general. I don't, I don't want to send my friends off to die. I just want to be an ensign. If it was good enough for Sito, then it's good enough for me.”
** 2024 November 11, Jake Bender & Zach Dunn, “Laszlo's Father” (1:34 from the start), in What We Do in the Shadows‎, season 6, episode 6, spoken by Nadja of Antipaxos (Natasia Demetriou):“Oh, no! That house belongs to shapeshifters. [spits]” “Fuck.” “You're kidding me, right?” “Shapeshifters are... extremely freaky.” “They are awful, abhorrent creatures that use the most ancient of sorcery to transform into whatever murderous, all-powerful shape their wicked hearts desire. And now, they have infiltrated out street.” “I have had horrible experiences with shapeshifters in the past. I was once in a relationship with a woman for four years who then transformed into a possum. I stayed with her for six more months, but then I just had to end it.”
* (figurative) A person who is inconsistent and elusive.
** 2023, Eleanor Catton, Birnam Wood, page 268:She was an alcoholic, very chageable, very deceptive. A shapeshifter. You never knew where you stood with her, […]

#### Synonyms

* See Thesaurus:shape-shifter.

#### Translations
### Anagrams

* phase shifter