as in to undermine
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 petrify
He was petrified by the thought of dying of cancer or some other disease whose senselessness disgusted him.
—
Ian Buruma, The New Yorker, 6 Jan. 2025
Medusa was known in ancient Greece for petrifying anyone who dared to look her in the eye, and has been seen as a personification of madness.
—Sarah Belmont, ARTnews.com, 17 Dec. 2024
The body was supposedly petrified by sap, and the loggers found several gold coins dating to the late 1600s, as well as pieces of paper identifying the person as Pierre D’Artagnan.
—Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 7 Oct. 2024
But Ingrid is petrified of dying and tries to convince Martha there is still plenty worth living for.
—Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY, 5 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for petrify
Ian Buruma, The New Yorker, 6 Jan. 2025
Medusa was known in ancient Greece for petrifying anyone who dared to look her in the eye, and has been seen as a personification of madness.
—Sarah Belmont, ARTnews.com, 17 Dec. 2024
The body was supposedly petrified by sap, and the loggers found several gold coins dating to the late 1600s, as well as pieces of paper identifying the person as Pierre D’Artagnan.
—Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 7 Oct. 2024
But Ingrid is petrified of dying and tries to convince Martha there is still plenty worth living for.
—Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY, 5 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for petrify
Recent Examples of Synonyms for petrify
Verb
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The problem comes when ideological casting choices begin to undermine the narrative, contravening Grisham’s famously effective structure and pacing.—
Graham Hillard,
The Washington Examiner,
5 Sep. 2025
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Ten Hag’s first season at United yielded silverware and a third-place league finish, but also had bouts of concerning away form, with tactical weaknesses that would eventually spread and critically undermine his plans for the future.—
Carl Anka,
New York Times,
5 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Israeli strikes severely weakened Hezbollah – culminating in the assassination of its revered leader, Hassan Nasrallah – and significantly curtailed the group’s domestic clout.—
Mostafa Salem,
CNN Money,
5 Sep. 2025
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Symptoms related to Listeria monocytogenes Listeria is especially harmful to people whose immune system is weakened or not fully developed but can also impact healthy individuals.—
Julia Gomez,
USA Today,
5 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The cool-season annual needs full sun and well-draining soil to grow, and prefers mild temperatures.—
Karen Brewer Grossman,
Southern Living,
5 Sep. 2025
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Fraudulent pet listings are leaving victims emotionally devastated and financially drained, Dennis Horton, senior director of the Rockford Regional Office, said in the announcement.—
Abreanna Blose,
USA Today,
4 Sep. 2025
Verb
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In a world that has been desiccated of its resources, and of its ability to care about each other, the people in this novel don’t cry anymore.—
Emily Temple
May 27,
Literary Hub,
27 May 2025
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Avoid hot, exposed sites which will cause foliage to desiccate.—
Kim Toscano,
Southern Living,
16 Apr. 2025
Verb
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With all other options seemingly exhausted, Una and Spock decide to take another path by getting in touch with their crewmates’ katras, roughly the Vulcan term for the soul, though the Vulcans would probably not want to use that term.—
Keith Phipps,
Vulture,
4 Sep. 2025
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Jones remained on Ohio's death row for decades, exhausting most of his appeals, until Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Wende Cross overturned his murder conviction, freed him from prison and granted him a new trial two years ago.—
Dan Horn,
The Enquirer,
3 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Forgetting to Stay Hydrated While there's a widespread perception that coffee dehydrates, that's not necessarily true.—
Lauren Panoff,
Verywell Health,
4 Sep. 2025
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Alcohol, while great for toasting sunsets, moonlights as a chaos agent, dehydrating you faster than a desert wind, and inviting questionable decisions like buying timeshares and getting tattoos.—
Christopher Elliott,
USA Today,
26 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Looming over all of it has been the sad, enervating situation with Alexander Isak, forever enshrined as a club legend by dint of Wembley last season but now beyond the point of tarnishing that legacy.—
George Caulkin,
New York Times,
10 Aug. 2025
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This relationship, when successful, tends to enervate mediating institutions that thwart the immediate desires of both the populist leader and the public.—
Cameron Hilditch,
National Review,
28 Feb. 2021
Verb
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Donkey has now been castrated, and the adorable family trio lives together in a large field with Partridge's other horses.—
Alyce Collins,
MSNBC Newsweek,
16 Aug. 2025
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The opera premiered in Rome at a time when castrati, or castrated male singers, took on treble roles; a papal decree forbade women from performing onstage.—
Hannah Edgar,
Chicago Tribune,
28 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Petrify.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/petrify. Accessed 8 Sep. 2025.
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