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
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
You'll be petrified by the violence inflicted upon boys who only wanted a chance to pull their families out of financial duress and have an opportunity at a comfortable life afforded to most of us sitting in our seats.
—
Haadiza Ogwude,
The Enquirer,
13 Sep. 2025
So don’t go around being petrified of having your esophagus rupture someday.
—
Bruce Y. Lee,
Forbes.com,
28 June 2025
Nearly every day brings a fresh breach of what were once thought to be the rules, moves that have thrilled his insurgent supporters and petrified his nervous opponents.
—
Peter Baker,
New York Times,
30 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for petrify
Jazz Monroe,
Pitchfork,
28 Nov. 2025
You'll be petrified by the violence inflicted upon boys who only wanted a chance to pull their families out of financial duress and have an opportunity at a comfortable life afforded to most of us sitting in our seats.
—
Haadiza Ogwude,
The Enquirer,
13 Sep. 2025
So don’t go around being petrified of having your esophagus rupture someday.
—
Bruce Y. Lee,
Forbes.com,
28 June 2025
Nearly every day brings a fresh breach of what were once thought to be the rules, moves that have thrilled his insurgent supporters and petrified his nervous opponents.
—
Peter Baker,
New York Times,
30 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for petrify
Recent Examples of Synonyms for petrify
Verb
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Kirk had disappeared from their feeds, and Erika Kirk had gone viral for the wrong reasons—taking the stage at her husband’s memorial service amid pyrotechnics and attempting her own campus tour, undermining her image as a Christian trad wife whose priorities were her family and her home.
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Over his 18-year tenure at the Fed, Greenspan embodied the omnipotent technocrat — a legacy critics say was fatally undermined by his failure to spot the 2008 housing bubble.
Verb
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Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty Images BEIJING — China’s consumer spending slowdown persisted in June, with growth during one of the country’s largest online shopping festivals weakening sharply from a year earlier.
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All three of those protagonists have been weakened in their roles by what has gone on.
Verb
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Several environmental groups have also proposed removing or entirely bypassing the Glen Canyon Dam, draining what's left into Lake Mead, and implementing stricter water conservation measures.
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The president said that his administration would have to drain the pool and start over again as the new liner shed chunks of itself.
Verb
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Another advantage of long and narrow leaves is their ability to withstand heavy rainfall and battering or desiccating winds.
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Her flesh is desiccated and gray, her hands and feet are jagged claws, and her breath comes out in rasps.
Verb
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For a country exhausted by notifications, that simplicity has become its own selling point.
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But mostly they were exhausted from balancing their teaching careers with single parenting.
Verb
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They can get dehydrated and overexposed to the sun and are unable to cool down.
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Never, ever leave your pet unattended in a hot car and know that pets also get dehydrated quickly, so have plenty of fresh cool water on hand.
Verb
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The impact of that shocking final scene is sufficient to send viewers out feeling enervated after what’s been a pretty desultory final act.
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Campbell, the North Carolina folk singer, describes an enervating process marked by back-and-forth exchanges and lots of waiting.
Verb
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Earlier this month, on Monday, June 8, Municipal Court Judge Louis Sancinito found Lowe guilty of possessing the deer without a permit, interfering with a conservation officer attempting to confiscate the animal, and having Rudy illegally castrated.
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Seemingly to help stave off temptation, a half dozen of the 18 male cult members who died had been surgically castrated, according to The New York Times, including Applewhite.
Cite this Entry
“Petrify.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/petrify. Accessed 27 Jun. 2026.
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