In [1]: import numpy as np In [2]: X = ["One", "string"] In [3]: X Out[3]: ['One', 'string'] In [4]: X[0] Out[4]: 'One' In [5]: type(X[0]) Out[5]: str In [6]: X = np.array(X) In [7]: X Out[7]: array(['One', 'string'], dtype='<U6') In [8]: X[1] = "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" In [9]: X Out[9]: array(['One', 'xxxxxx'], dtype='<U6') In [10]: X = X.astype(object) In [11]: X Out[11]: array(['One', 'xxxxxx'], dtype=object) In [12]: X[1] = "yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy" In [13]: X Out[13]: array(['One', 'yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy'], dtype=object)