Meaning & use
Petrify
Last updated
To turn organic matter into stone or a stony substance through gradual mineral replacement, or to make someone extremely frightened, as if paralyzed.
See it in a sentence
Minerals in the groundwater slowly petrify buried wood over thousands of years.
The horror film's final scene was enough to petrify even seasoned fans of the genre.
A note on using this word
The figurative sense of "petrify" — to freeze someone with fear — draws on the mythological image of being literally turned to stone, as by the gaze of Medusa.
Words with a similar meaning
fossilizeterrify
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Words with an opposite meaning
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