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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
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
-
By fiscal year 2029-30, the district would have exhausted all of its reserve funding, the forecast states.—
Michelle Mullins,
Chicago Tribune,
28 Feb. 2026
-
The statute also requires that the Pentagon have exhausted any alternative, less intrusive courses of action to mitigate the risk prior to making the supply chain risk finding.—
Jeremy Kahn,
Fortune,
28 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Fallout from the attacks has undermined the Emirates’ efforts to de-escalate tensions with Iran despite longtime suspicions of its neighbor across the Gulf.—
Brian Melley,
Fortune,
2 Mar. 2026
-
The money funded terrorist attacks that undermined Israeli confidence in the peace process, propelling Oslo skeptic Benjamin Netanyahu to the prime ministership in 1996.—
Ron Kampeas,
Sun Sentinel,
2 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Henry then stole the ball from Hosana Kitenge and drained a pull-up jumper on the other end for a 61-57 lead with 25 seconds left, and the Anteaters managed to close out the win at the free-throw line.—
Dan Arritt,
Oc Register,
1 Mar. 2026
-
Pierre drained a 3-pointer from the left wing to draw the Big Blue within 70-68 with 32 seconds to go.—
Edward Lee,
Baltimore Sun,
1 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The lower target follows a yearslong property sector slump that sent home prices tumbling, weakened domestic consumption and investment confidence and led to massive job losses.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
5 Mar. 2026
-
But Bradost said that the Kurdish parties were open to working with most Iranian political forces—just not the Islamic Republic, which is now too weakened to be a partner, or Reza Pahlavi, the son of the late shah of Iran, who has been publicly hostile to the Kurdish parties.—
Arash Azizi,
The Atlantic,
4 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Typically, though, NVOH is used after being dehydrated.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
25 Feb. 2026
-
With how dehydrated my skin is this winter, and an eczema flare up, so many products have been making my skin worse.—
Olivia Cefalu,
InStyle,
25 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Try to get a look below the surface—if anything is broken, damaged, rotten, or desiccated, a simple trim could help.—
Ashley Chalmers,
The Spruce,
11 Feb. 2026
-
Sereno proposes that the creatures’ carcasses were first desiccated in a drought before suddenly being engulfed by sediment—likely brought on by a flood.—
Andrea Tamayo,
Scientific American,
23 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
After his conviction, Turing was chemically castrated.—
Michelle Del Rey,
USA Today,
20 Feb. 2026
-
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
-
Danes wore her hair in a sleek updo and accessorized with small diamond drop earrings with a matching bracelet and a ring.—
Ashley Hume,
FOXNews.com,
2 Mar. 2026
-
The temperature exceeded a hundred degrees, and the smoke was so thick that the little cartoon icon on the air-quality app on my phone—which normally wore a cloth mask when the air was bad—now bore a gas mask.—
Robert Moor,
New Yorker,
2 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Petrified.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/petrified. Accessed 7 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
