Meaning & use
extinct
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Meanings
adjectivenot comparablebiology
No longer alive anywhere because all members of the species have died.
Grammar: Used after be or go, or before a noun: the dodo is extinct, an extinct bird.
Patterns
- become extinct
- go extinct
- be extinct
The dodo became extinct in the seventeenth century.
Many species will go extinct if their habitats disappear.
Fossils show that giant ground sloths are now extinct.
adjectivebefore a nountechnical
Describing a volcano that is not expected to erupt again.
Grammar: Used before a noun: an extinct volcano; contrast with active or dormant.
Patterns
- an extinct volcano
Arthur's Seat is an extinct volcano above the city.
The island's extinct volcano is now covered with forest.
Geologists decided the extinct volcano posed no threat.
adjectivecomparablefigurative
Disappeared from use or no longer practiced, such as a custom, language or job.
Grammar: Figurative and used after be or become: the craft is nearly extinct.
Patterns
- become extinct
- nearly extinct
The profession of lamplighter is now extinct.
Many local dialects are almost extinct.
The old trade became extinct once factories opened.
Common combinations
- become extinct
- The species became extinct after hunters killed the last pair.
- go extinct
- Scientists warn that bees may go extinct.
- an extinct volcano
- The hill is actually an extinct volcano.
- an extinct species
- Museums display bones of extinct species.
- hunted to extinction
- The bird was hunted to extinction.
Synonyms and how they differ
- dead
- Dead is the general word for no longer living, whereas extinct means a whole species no longer exists.
- vanished
- Vanished suggests disappearing suddenly or mysteriously, while extinct is a precise biological fact.
- obsolete
- Obsolete describes things no longer used, like machines, while extinct is for species or very old ways.
- defunct
- Defunct describes organizations or systems that no longer function, not living things.
Opposites
Word family
- extinction noun
- the dying out of a species
- extinguish verb
- to put out a fire or end something
- extinguisher noun
- a device for putting out a fire
- endangered adjective
- at risk of becoming extinct
Commonly confused: extinct or extant? extinct or dormant?
extinct vs extant
Extant means still existing, so it is nearly the opposite of extinct, although the words look similar.
extinct vs dormant
A dormant volcano is quiet but could erupt again, while an extinct volcano is not expected to.
Practice
Scientists say the volcano is ___, so no one expects it to erupt again.
Choose one answer.
An extinct volcano will not erupt again. A dormant one is only asleep and might erupt, so it does not fit the sentence.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “extinct”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.