as in archaic
having passed its time of use or usefulness
fossilized notions about the proper place of women in society
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of fossilized
These beaches are some of the best in Florida for finding shells and fossilized shark teeth, especially near the fort and jetties.
—
Taryn Shorr-McKee,
Travel + Leisure,
31 May 2026
How fitting, then, that a primitive predator from five hundred and sixty million years ago, a fossilized example of which was discovered near where the young David grew up, should have been named Auroralumina attenboroughii in his honor.
—
Anthony Lane,
New Yorker,
8 May 2026
The Giant Octopus Fossil That Unlocked Everything The discovery is based on giant octopus fossil evidence — specifically, fossilized beaks (jaws), which are the only hard parts of an octopus’s body and the only parts likely to survive over millions of years.
—
Ryan Brennan,
Kansas City Star,
24 Apr. 2026
The team studied fossilized jaws and the wear patterns on them to reconstruct the sizes and feeding behaviors of the ancient octopuses.
—
Kate Wong,
Scientific American,
23 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for fossilized
Taryn Shorr-McKee,
Travel + Leisure,
31 May 2026
How fitting, then, that a primitive predator from five hundred and sixty million years ago, a fossilized example of which was discovered near where the young David grew up, should have been named Auroralumina attenboroughii in his honor.
—
Anthony Lane,
New Yorker,
8 May 2026
The Giant Octopus Fossil That Unlocked Everything The discovery is based on giant octopus fossil evidence — specifically, fossilized beaks (jaws), which are the only hard parts of an octopus’s body and the only parts likely to survive over millions of years.
—
Ryan Brennan,
Kansas City Star,
24 Apr. 2026
The team studied fossilized jaws and the wear patterns on them to reconstruct the sizes and feeding behaviors of the ancient octopuses.
—
Kate Wong,
Scientific American,
23 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for fossilized
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fossilized
Adjective
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The sixth block in the Parthenon’s tympanum—or recessed space—was restored by combining a pair of archaic fragments with new pieces of marble, while the seventh block has been completed using only fresh marble.
-
His department of justice brought back the firing squad on federal row in April of 2026; several states now also use what was once considered an archaic method.
Adjective
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The professors were bitter and angry—angry at a university, a state, and a country where their fields of study were regarded as obsolete, useful only for padding the schedules of STEM students or as a backstop for STEM burnouts.
-
All devices will eventually become obsolete and be disposed of, but until such time, the connectivity models mean that almost all products are now IoT devices and require whole-life management.
Adjective
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By wrapping antiquated infrastructure in agentic interfaces, these workers can unlock near-native operational efficiency without a risky, catastrophic core system overhaul.
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But what, exactly, is that robot doing watching fireworks next to a little boy and a man in antiquated garb?
Adjective
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The museum uses Akrotiri as a point of reference for the life and culture of prehistoric Thira.
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The fraught subject of the proper disposition of those human remains has taken on a new sensitivity — both for the prehistoric people’s Native American successors in Florida, and for the archaeologists and developers encountering them.
Adjective
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Enter Peskesi and the dozens of regenerative and natural wineries scattered across the southwest of Crete near quiet, picturesque Chania, which form its wine trail, a range from medieval-palace tasting rooms to sprawling vineyard operations.
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Not many estates can claim to have a 1,000-year-old medieval tower in the backyard, but that’s exactly what anchors this historic property in the heart of Tuscany’s renowned Chianti wine region.
Cite this Entry
“Fossilized.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fossilized. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
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