petrifying

adjective

pet·​ri·​fy·​ing ˈpe-trə-ˌfī-iŋ 

: overwhelmingly frightening

"We have not made one decision on what to do yet. It's worse than scary. It's absolutely petrifying."

—Chris Spirou

What may be a petrifying experience for a child might seem trivial for you.

—The Daily Herald (Provo, Utah)

petrifyingly adverb

a petrifyingly dangerous situation

Examples of petrifying in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The whole thing wasn’t so much petrifying as insidiously unsettling, and all of that started with the figure of Nosferatu himself. —Jim Shepard, New York Times, 12 Feb. 2025

Those included raging hormones, backup underwear, and petrifying prenatal tests involving giant needles. —Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY, 31 May 2024

Democrats call it 'petrifying' Senate Democrats, however, were quick to admonish the video. —Justin Gomez, ABC News, 21 May 2024

The polished feel swayed me (though in reality, this kind of swishy styling is a petrifying daily task for someone who barely washes her hair every 10 days). —Keeks Reid, refinery29.com, 6 Feb. 2024

Take, for instance, Edward Scissorhands (1990), where a humanoid with scissors for hands proves to be more pure than petrifying. —Skyler Caruso, Peoplemag, 17 Oct. 2023

Word History

Etymology

from present participle of petrify

First Known Use

1782, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for petrifying

• amplifying
• beautifying
• certifying
• clarifying
• classifying
• codifying
• crucifying
• edifying
• falsifying
• fortifying
• glorifying
• gratifying