as in undermines
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 petrifies
The former slingshots between harmony and hysteria; the latter petrifies its beauty under a haze of ashy gray powder.
—
Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork, 28 Nov. 2025
Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork, 28 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for petrifies
Verb
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DeSantis said that provision requires lawmakers to consider race and undermines the Fair Districts Amendment as a whole — paving the legal pathway to getting around the state’s partisan gerrymandering ban altogether.—
Claire Heddles,
Miami Herald,
28 Apr. 2026
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Families and businesses cannot plan ahead, which undermines investment, growth, and prosperity.—
Gregg Nunziata,
The Atlantic,
27 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Expanding nonmedical exemptions, however, weakens the very protections those medically vulnerable children depend on.—
Sarah Marsicek,
The Orlando Sentinel,
26 Apr. 2026
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Critics say allowing the department to delay or sideline state investigations weakens one of the last independent checks on government lawyers.—
Jaclyn Diaz,
NPR,
25 Apr. 2026
Verb
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This idea of reasonableness is easily caricatured as moral timidity or a bloodless neutrality that drains politics of passion.—
Nikhil Krishnan,
New Yorker,
20 Apr. 2026
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That’s why a fine textured soil, like clay, drains more poorly than does a coarse, sandy soil.—
Paul Cappiello,
Louisville Courier Journal,
17 Apr. 2026
Verb
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If the search for a large outdoor planter exhausts you—just get a terra-cotta planter.—
Julia Harrison,
Architectural Digest,
6 Apr. 2026
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As the oil blockade quickly exhausts Cuba’s supply of fuel, triggering a series of lengthy, island-wide blackouts, many here are exhausted and are becoming increasingly vocal about their desire for fundamental changes in Cuba.—
Kate Linthicum,
Los Angeles Times,
29 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Isabella is thin and tall, and wears high heels and low-cut dresses.—
T. M. Brown,
New Yorker,
25 Apr. 2026
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Prince Harry wears a serious expression with an earpiece at the Kyiv Security Forum in Kyiv, Ukraine on April 23.—
Katie Hill,
PEOPLE,
24 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Why Water Wins Flying dehydrates the body.—
Jill Robbins,
Travel + Leisure,
18 Apr. 2026
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Diatomaceous earth dehydrates and damages a roach’s exoskeleton.—
Karen Brewer Grossman,
Southern Living,
14 Apr. 2026
Verb
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By way of example, Morris points to a scene in Wiseman's 1993 documentary Zoo, in which an all-women surgical team at Miami zoo castrates a wolf.—
Chloe Veltman,
NPR,
16 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Petrifies.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/petrifies. Accessed 30 Apr. 2026.
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