fossilized

adjective

fos·​sil·​ized ˈfä-sə-ˌlīzd 

1

: having been changed into a fossil : subjected to fossilization

fossilized wood

And in 1997 he found several thousand fossilized eggs from a giant sauropod, or plant-eating dinosaur, just 120 miles north. The find included the first-known fossilized dinosaur embryos, as bits of fossilized dino-skin.

—Eric Niiler

2

: old and unchanging or outmoded

fossilized notions

As the mountains get higher, the houses become tin-roof shacks, with yards full of fossilized appliances and ancient cars.

—Elizabeth Gilbert

: made firm, fixed, or rigid by the passage of time

I love the living language more than the fossilized variety with its hardened meanings and set-in-stone lexicon.

—Paul McFedries

I know when I took photos in the past I was looking either for particularly artistic shots or ones that might become fossilized memories adorning a mantel.

—Robert W. Lucky

Synonyms

• antiquated
• archaic
• dated
• démodé
• demoded
• kaput
• kaputt
• medieval
• mediaeval
• moribund
• mossy
• moth-eaten
• neolithic
• Noachian
• obsolete
• out-of-date
• outdated
• outmoded
• outworn
• passé
• prehistoric
• prehistorical
• rusty
• Stone Age
• superannuated

Examples of fossilized in a Sentence

fossilized notions about the proper place of women in society

Recent Examples on the Web

In a new study, scientists analyzed hundreds of fossilized droppings and vomit, called bromalites, to reconstruct dinosaur food webs, uncovering how they were influenced by climate and by other species’ extinction. —Alexa Robles-Gil, Smithsonian Magazine, 3 Dec. 2024

In a new study, scientists in Poland, Sweden, Norway and Hungary set out to conduct the most comprehensive study so far of fossilized remains of digestive material. —Michael Irving, New Atlas, 29 Nov. 2024

The research team discovered the first of the fossilized footprints in 2021 and the surface containing them was then excavated the following year, revealing the full extent of the tracks. —Yaakov Katz, Newsweek, 28 Nov. 2024

Researchers move a boulder containing fossilized footprints in the Italian Alps. —Hannah Peart, NBC News, 15 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1794, in the meaning defined at sense 1