ex·tinct
ik-ˈstiŋ(k)t 
ˈek-ˌstiŋ(k)t
ˈek-ˌstiŋ(k)t
1
a
: no longer burning
an extinct fire
an extinct hope
b
: no longer active
an extinct volcano
2
: no longer existing
an extinct animal
3
a
: gone out of use : superseded
extinct customs
b
: having no qualified claimant
an extinct title
Examples of extinct in a Sentence
Adjective
Many of these old traditions have since become extinct.
a few overgrown ruins are all that remain of that once mighty but now extinct civilization
Recent Examples on the Web
Big Think, 20 Feb. 2026
Across the peninsula, cheetahs were deemed locally extinct in the 1970s.
—Taylor Nicioli, CNN Money, 20 Feb. 2026
Iowa's licensed casinos would be banned from allowing simulcast greyhound races, potentially ending the state's remaining ties to the almost-extinct industry.
—Stephen Gruber-Miller, Des Moines Register, 20 Feb. 2026
By selecting adults with the strongest genetic makeup, said Sevilla, the breeding program aims to gradually bring the extinct Floreana species back to its former purity.
—ABC News, 20 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for extinct
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Adjective
At some point, likely within the next two billion years, those temperatures will rise so high that our oceans will boil away; shortly after that, it’s expected that life on our planet will go completely extinct.
—Big Think, 20 Feb. 2026
Across the peninsula, cheetahs were deemed locally extinct in the 1970s.
—Taylor Nicioli, CNN Money, 20 Feb. 2026
Iowa's licensed casinos would be banned from allowing simulcast greyhound races, potentially ending the state's remaining ties to the almost-extinct industry.
—Stephen Gruber-Miller, Des Moines Register, 20 Feb. 2026
By selecting adults with the strongest genetic makeup, said Sevilla, the breeding program aims to gradually bring the extinct Floreana species back to its former purity.
—ABC News, 20 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for extinct
Cite this Entry
“Extinct.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/extinct. Accessed 1 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
extinct
adjective
ex·tinct
ik-ˈstiŋ(k)t
ˈek-ˌ
ˈek-ˌ
: no longer existing : lacking living representatives
extinct prehistoric animals
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