fossilized

adjective

fos·​sil·​ized ˈfä-sə-ˌlīzd 

1

: having been changed into a fossil : subjected to fossilization

fossilized wood

And in 1997 he found several thousand fossilized eggs from a giant sauropod, or plant-eating dinosaur, just 120 miles north. The find included the first-known fossilized dinosaur embryos, as bits of fossilized dino-skin.

—Eric Niiler

2

: old and unchanging or outmoded

fossilized notions

As the mountains get higher, the houses become tin-roof shacks, with yards full of fossilized appliances and ancient cars.

—Elizabeth Gilbert

: made firm, fixed, or rigid by the passage of time

I love the living language more than the fossilized variety with its hardened meanings and set-in-stone lexicon.

—Paul McFedries

I know when I took photos in the past I was looking either for particularly artistic shots or ones that might become fossilized memories adorning a mantel.

—Robert W. Lucky

Synonyms

• antiquated
• archaic
• dated
• démodé
• demoded
• kaput
• kaputt
• medieval
• mediaeval
• moribund
• mossy
• moth-eaten
• neolithic
• Noachian
• obsolete
• out-of-date
• outdated
• outmoded
• outworn
• passé
• prehistoric
• prehistorical
• rusty
• Stone Age
• superannuated

Examples of fossilized in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

For the most part, golden spikes are layers of rock that contain evidence of some notable shift in Earth’s history—a reversal of the planet’s magnetic poles, say, or the disappearance of a fossilized species. —Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker, 20 Apr. 2024

The fossilized skull was found in the Peruvian Amazon and belongs to the group Platanistoidea. —Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 21 Mar. 2024

The skin is a 3-dimensional cast with some fossilized tissue attached. —Evan Bush, NBC News, 11 Jan. 2024

Set in a form of fossil resin called copal, the specimen represents a new species named Myrmarachne colombiana, and is the first ant-mimicking spider from Colombia, whether fossilized or non-fossilized. —Sam Walters, Discover Magazine, 28 Mar. 2024

And human fossilized poop, or coprolites, showed that at least some inhabitants suffered from intestinal worms. —Katie Hunt, CNN, 20 Mar. 2024

The fossilized skin was found by itself, unattached to bone. —Kate Golembiewski, New York Times, 11 Jan. 2024

In India, chunks of fossilized feces, otherwise known as coprolites, show titanosaurs there ingested everything from ground-level plants all the way up to the leaves and branches of trees. —Kristi Curry Rogers, The Conversation, 7 Mar. 2024

The team hoped to find evidence of soft tissues under the coating, but a microscopic analysis revealed the presence of paint rather than fossilized skin. —Amanda Kooser, Forbes, 16 Feb. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1794, in the meaning defined at sense 1