PETRIFIED Synonyms: 82 Similar and Opposite Words

petrified

verb

Definition of petrified

past tense of petrify

as in exhausted

to deprive of emotional or intellectual vitality groupthink and peer pressure have so petrified the thinking of the company's top brass that they haven't produced an innovative product in years

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of petrified The first film follows a group of French high-school students who travel to Naples on a school trip to discover the ruins of Pompeii and the bodies petrified by Vesuvius. — Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 20 May 2026 Johansson plays her with a tough edge to match her Queens accent, but Hester is clearly petrified by this perfect storm of ugly events. — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 16 May 2026 In group chats and meetings, Republicans are privately petrified the Iran war could cost them the midterms. — Elizabeth Robinson, NBC news, 16 Apr. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for petrified

Verb

The person with the least votes after each round is eliminated, with ballots reapportioned or exhausted until the winner clears 50%.

— Christian Datoc, The Washington Examiner, 14 Oct. 2026
In fact, even before the show actually starts, Bob can be exhausted, having been awake since some ridiculous hour.

— Théoden Janes, Charlotte Observer, 7 Oct. 2026

Definition of exhausted

Verb

Despite the tension, Humphries rejected the suggestion that the issue would have undermined the chemistry behind her Olympic gold medals.

— Jackson Thompson OutKick, FOXNews.com, 13 Oct. 2026
Renewed fighting in Tigray has undermined the 2022 peace agreement that ended a two-year war, as mounting tensions between Ethiopia and neighboring Eritrea have raised fears of a wider conflict.

— ABC News, ABC News, 11 Oct. 2026

Definition of undermined

Verb

Following a major eruption in 2018 that partly drained one of the underground lava reservoirs, there were indications that it was being steadily refilled.

— John Timmer, ArsTechnica, 9 Oct. 2026
Not only that, but the Strategic Petroleum Reserve has been aggressively drained to ease the energy shock.

— Matt Egan, CNN Money, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of drained

Verb

Most people wake mildly dehydrated after six to eight hours of sleep, dietitians and endocrinologists say.

— Hanna Wickes, Kansas City Star, 15 Oct. 2026
Hydrate before you caffeinate Six to eight hours of sleep leaves most people mildly dehydrated by morning, thanks to breathing and sweat.

— Hanna Wickes, Charlotte Observer, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of dehydrated

Verb

Strewn around the edges of the room are ceramic casts of the pocked fruit, brown and desiccated like a pile of skulls.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 5 Aug. 2026
Olive trees, desiccated from the Xylella fastidiosa bacterial epidemic, are consumed by fire and slump to the ground in a burnished black heap.

— Angelica Calabrese, Longreads, 7 July 2026

Definition of desiccated

Verb

This is the league, remember, where a man (Harvey Updyke) confessed to poisoning the trees at Auburn on a radio show after Alabama lost to the Tigers, and a coach (Jackie Sherrill at Mississippi State) castrated a bull to motivate his squad.

— Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 4 Sep. 2026
Those expectations got castrated because of last season’s early struggles.

— Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 24 July 2026

Definition of castrated

Verb

The mother-of-two wore a pair of white bottoms with a matching skirt and silk angel wings across her shoulders.

— Tracy Wright, FOXNews.com, 19 Oct. 2026
Kendall Jenner and Hunter Schafer, in Valentino and Prada, respectively, wore two of the evening’s most compelling arguments for black and white evening attire.

— José Criales-Unzueta, Vanity Fair, 18 Oct. 2026

Definition of wore

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pet peeves

petrified

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“Petrified.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/petrified. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of petrified

verb

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