PETRIFIED Synonyms: 82 Similar and Opposite Words

petrified

verb

Definition of petrified

past tense of petrify

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 first film follows a group of French high-school students who travel to Naples on a school trip to discover the ruins of Pompeii and the bodies petrified by Vesuvius. — Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 20 May 2026 Johansson plays her with a tough edge to match her Queens accent, but Hester is clearly petrified by this perfect storm of ugly events. — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 16 May 2026 In group chats and meetings, Republicans are privately petrified the Iran war could cost them the midterms. — Elizabeth Robinson, NBC news, 16 Apr. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for petrified

Verb

In fact, even before the show actually starts, Bob can be exhausted, having been awake since some ridiculous hour.

— Théoden Janes, Charlotte Observer, 7 Oct. 2026
Shapiro eventually concedes that good-faith developers are at the Homer City campus, something that earns a broad smile from Steffee, exhausted by the politics.

— Salena Zito, Washington Post, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of exhausted

Verb

Our joy in the world is drained away, along with our ability to feel fully human.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 7 Oct. 2026
Micron still trading 15% below its June peak and Nvidia sitting at such a steep discount to the market P/E and that of defensive, capex-light Apple, suggest a level of sobriety that – all else equal – could mean that some risk has been drained away.

— Michael Santoli, CNBC, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of drained

Verb

Lower-ticket maintenance items have held steadier in sales, which can help to prop up the top line, but the per-store productivity weakened even where top-line sales looked flat, Graff said.

— Kevin Williams, CNBC, 3 Oct. 2026
The region’s long investment in coal and steel became a trap once the economic basis for those industries weakened.

— Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of weakened

Verb

This is part of the natural aging process, and the visible signs of aging include looser texture, dry skin, and in some people oily skin that still feels dehydrated.

— Miami Herald, Miami Herald, 1 Oct. 2026
Alcohol Alcohol is one of the least effective choices when you’re dehydrated.

— Sarah Jividen, Verywell Health, 17 Sep. 2026

Definition of dehydrated

Verb

Strewn around the edges of the room are ceramic casts of the pocked fruit, brown and desiccated like a pile of skulls.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 5 Aug. 2026
Olive trees, desiccated from the Xylella fastidiosa bacterial epidemic, are consumed by fire and slump to the ground in a burnished black heap.

— Angelica Calabrese, Longreads, 7 July 2026

Definition of desiccated

Verb

This is the league, remember, where a man (Harvey Updyke) confessed to poisoning the trees at Auburn on a radio show after Alabama lost to the Tigers, and a coach (Jackie Sherrill at Mississippi State) castrated a bull to motivate his squad.

— Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 4 Sep. 2026
Those expectations got castrated because of last season’s early struggles.

— Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 24 July 2026

Definition of castrated

Browse Nearby Words

pet peeves

petrified

petrifies

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Petrified.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/petrified. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of petrified

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

inscrutable

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Popular in Wordplay

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 9

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

Popular

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes