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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Recent Examples of petrified
The only issue is his mother Laura (Wright), a woman who has lost a child once before and is petrified of a repeat.
—
Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 5 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for petrified
Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 5 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for petrified
Recent Examples of Synonyms for petrified
Verb
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Morehouse gives out $10 million in endowed scholarships every year, plus another $3 million to close the funding gap for students who have exhausted all other options.—
Jason Armesto,
AJC.com,
21 Mar. 2026
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As investors, including Marc Andreessen, warn that AI companies are ‘running out’ of high‑quality human data and studies project that public web data for training could be exhausted within the next decade.—
Lily Mae Lazarus,
Fortune,
19 Mar. 2026
Verb
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When policies deter people from receiving preventive care like getting a seasonal influenza vaccine, public health efforts are directly undermined.—
Dr. Lauren Palladino,
Hartford Courant,
22 Mar. 2026
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But any argument about media diversity was undermined by the department’s inaccessibility.—
Brian Stelter,
CNN Money,
21 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Houston drained seven threes in that decisive fourth-quarter run; a couple of them were tightly defended but Rockets shooters had too much airspace on others.—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
22 Mar. 2026
-
Maryland pulled within three in the final two minutes, but Nyla Brooks drained a 3-pointer from in front of the North Carolina bench.—
Bob Sutton,
Chicago Tribune,
22 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Israel significantly weakened the organization in military strikes and assassinations throughout late 2024.—
Asher Kaufman,
The Conversation,
20 Mar. 2026
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As a result, Democrats in Crespo’s northwest suburban district and Benton’s southwest suburban district are voting for representatives whose ability to make a difference in the Capitol has been significantly weakened due to internal party politics.—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
18 Mar. 2026
Verb
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When rescuers found him the next morning, the man was dehydrated and suffering from mild hypothermia, but otherwise unharmed.—
Owen Clarke,
Outside,
16 Mar. 2026
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Turned out that Self was dehydrated and got AFib (atrial fibrillation) during a brief hospital stay.—
Shreyas Laddha,
Kansas City Star,
10 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Mahdi and Khadija had been struck by drought, and their bed was dry and desiccated, waterless down to its depths.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
12 Mar. 2026
-
Dried or desiccated coconut flakes can be replaced with fresh coconut meat, or omit.—
The Washington Post,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
11 Mar. 2026
Verb
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After his conviction, Turing was chemically castrated.—
Michelle Del Rey,
USA Today,
20 Feb. 2026
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Set in the Italian opera world of the 1700s, Rice’s novel tells the not-for-the-squeamish story of two male soprano singers who were castrated as boys in order to maintain their high voices.—
David Browne,
Rolling Stone,
12 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
Of the stubborn hearts in these mountains of mine who wore pride like a coat and refused to bow beneath the shadows these mountains could cast in both heart and spirit.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
23 Mar. 2026
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Russell Wilson wore that number last season as the Giants’ Week 1 starting quarterback and lasted only three games before being replaced by the rookie first-round pick Dart.—
Pat Leonard,
New York Daily News,
23 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Petrified.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/petrified. Accessed 27 Mar. 2026.
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