mutant

/ˈmjutnt/

/ˈmjuɾant/

Other forms: mutants

When an animal's genes change, or mutate, the new form of the animal that results is a mutant. One example of such a mutant is a blue lobster. Another is the teenage mutant ninja turtle.

You can use the scientific term mutant for any plant or animal that's the result of a change, or mutation, in the DNA of that organism. When the word is used as an adjective, it describes something having to do with this kind of mutation, like a mutant chromosome or a mutant lobster. Mutant stems from the Latin mutantem, which means "changing."

Definitions of mutant

1. noun

   an animal that has undergone mutation
   type of:

   animal, animate being, beast, brute, creature, fauna

   a living organism characterized by voluntary movement
2. noun

   (biology) an organism that has characteristics resulting from chromosomal alteration
   synonyms: mutation, sport, variation

   types:

   freak, lusus naturae, monster, monstrosity

   a person or animal that is markedly unusual or deformed

   leviathan

   the largest or most massive thing of its kind

   type of:

   being, organism

   a living thing that has (or can develop) the ability to act or function independently
3. adjective

   tending to undergo or resulting from mutation
   “a mutant gene”