Learn English – Word for someone with the ability to change appearances

adjectives

What's a word for someone having the ability to change their own or someone else's appearance? I've heard witch, pythoness, shapeshifter and siren, but any other words I'm missing?

Best Answer

The adjective I would use is protean. Here is the entry for protean from Merriam-Webster's Eleventh Collegiate Dictionary (2003):

protean adj (1598) 1 : of or resembling Proteus in having a varied nature or ability to assume different forms 2 : displaying great diversity or variety : VERSATILE

The relevant definition is the first one. You can read more about Proteus at Wikipedia's article on that Greek god. Note that protean applies to the ability to change one's own form or shape, not to change that of others.