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
But Ingrid is petrified of dying and tries to convince Martha there is still plenty worth living for.
—
Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY, 5 Oct. 2024
Some three-dimensional metallic roses grew on their shiny reflective surfaces, with an important symbolism that served as a fit rouge for the entire collection: as fragile objects suddenly petrified, their hardened fragility was the designer’s own.
—Giorgia Feroldi, Vogue, 1 Mar. 2025
He was petrified by the thought of dying of cancer or some other disease whose senselessness disgusted him.
—Ian Buruma, The New Yorker, 6 Jan. 2025
Medusa was known in ancient Greece for petrifying anyone who dared to look her in the eye, and has been seen as a personification of madness.
—Sarah Belmont, ARTnews.com, 17 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for petrify
Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY, 5 Oct. 2024
Some three-dimensional metallic roses grew on their shiny reflective surfaces, with an important symbolism that served as a fit rouge for the entire collection: as fragile objects suddenly petrified, their hardened fragility was the designer’s own.
—Giorgia Feroldi, Vogue, 1 Mar. 2025
He was petrified by the thought of dying of cancer or some other disease whose senselessness disgusted him.
—Ian Buruma, The New Yorker, 6 Jan. 2025
Medusa was known in ancient Greece for petrifying anyone who dared to look her in the eye, and has been seen as a personification of madness.
—Sarah Belmont, ARTnews.com, 17 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for petrify
Recent Examples of Synonyms for petrify
Verb
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Trump has pursued policies that have repeatedly undermined the agenda of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—and show that divisions between the United States and Israel are widening.—
Daniel Byman,
The Atlantic,
24 May 2025
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Things could have been better still had Leclerc’s race not been undermined by the timing of the two safety cars.—
Dan Cancian,
Forbes.com,
24 May 2025
Verb
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Bias, inaccuracies and missing values can all weaken model reliability.—
Tor Constantino,
Forbes.com,
3 June 2025
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Coercing democratic allies such as Canada or Denmark more broadly weakens trust in U.S. alliances; threatening Panama reawakens fears of imperialism throughout Latin America; crippling the U.S. Agency for International Development undercuts the United States’ reputation for benevolence.—
Robert O. Keohane,
Foreign Affairs,
2 June 2025
Verb
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Treating this condition involves surgery to implant a shunt to drain excess fluid from the inside of the skull, according to the Cleveland Clinic.—
Christina Dugan Ramirez,
FOXNews.com,
25 May 2025
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Siakam drains the three. Pacers 94, Knicks 85 — a game decided in the opening three minutes of the fourth quarter, against a team that kept running the same action until the Knicks finally broke.—
Kristian Winfield,
New York Daily News,
24 May 2025
Verb
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Avoid hot, exposed sites which will cause foliage to desiccate.—
Kim Toscano,
Southern Living,
16 Apr. 2025
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Not only that, but decades of persistent drought and warming temperatures have desiccated reservoirs along the Rio Grande and its tributary, the Chama River.—
Laura Paskus,
The Denver Post,
11 Mar. 2025
Verb
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The board expects to establish authorize another buyback once the existing share repurchase is exhausted.—
Glenn Taylor,
Sourcing Journal,
23 May 2025
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Under the proposal, an undergrad must exhaust their federal loan eligibility before parents can borrow PLUS loans to cover any remaining costs.—
Shahar Ziv,
Forbes.com,
22 May 2025
Verb
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She was dehydrated, but was otherwise in good condition.—
Clara Harter,
Los Angeles Times,
15 May 2025
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First responders examined Slaton and found she was dehydrated, but appeared to be in good condition.—
Muri Assunção,
New York Daily News,
15 May 2025
Verb
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This relationship, when successful, tends to enervate mediating institutions that thwart the immediate desires of both the populist leader and the public.—
Cameron Hilditch,
National Review,
28 Feb. 2021
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The saving grace of this often enervating thriller is that Doscher grants time for his actors to build character and intimacy, and both Pinto and Odom offer warm, affectingly natural performances as two people facing the end of their world.—
Teo Bugbee,
New York Times,
5 Mar. 2020
Verb
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The victims are all male, the corpses all castrated, and each crime scene is signed with lines of poetry by the Argentinean writer Alejandra Pizarnik.—
The New Yorker,
New Yorker,
31 Mar. 2025
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In an unnamed city, a man has been murdered and castrated, his body left in an alley.—
Katie Kitamura,
New York Times,
25 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Petrify.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/petrify. Accessed 6 Jun. 2025.
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