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
The thought of Alvarez running, jumping, sliding or injuring himself — for a team still missing Tucker — petrifies Espada.
—
Chandler Rome, The Athletic, 22 Aug. 2024
The body was supposedly petrified by sap, and the loggers found several gold coins dating to the late 1600s, as well as pieces of paper identifying the person as Pierre D’Artagnan.
—Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 7 Oct. 2024
The West and Israel should be mindful over the apparent change in tempo of Iran’s uranium enrichment and be petrified of losing the wider war of non proliferation in a region unable to step back from the brink.
—Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, 28 Sep. 2024
The government - the governor is petrified in Colorado.
—CBS News, 22 Sep. 2024
See All Example Sentences for petrify
Chandler Rome, The Athletic, 22 Aug. 2024
The body was supposedly petrified by sap, and the loggers found several gold coins dating to the late 1600s, as well as pieces of paper identifying the person as Pierre D’Artagnan.
—Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 7 Oct. 2024
The West and Israel should be mindful over the apparent change in tempo of Iran’s uranium enrichment and be petrified of losing the wider war of non proliferation in a region unable to step back from the brink.
—Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, 28 Sep. 2024
The government - the governor is petrified in Colorado.
—CBS News, 22 Sep. 2024
See All Example Sentences for petrify
Recent Examples of Synonyms for petrify
Verb
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There are eight issues that have begun to undermine the stock market's shaky support.—
John S. Tobey,
Forbes,
1 Mar. 2025
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His brave stand, like the legendary Dutch hero whose finger in the dike blocked a flood, still holds back the efforts of Putin, Xi Jinping, and their allies to undermine democracy — in the Baltics, Poland, Western Europe, and Taiwan, and in Trump’s United States.—
Trudy Rubin,
The Mercury News,
28 Feb. 2025
Verb
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In the fourth quarter of 2024, WK Kellogg reported net sales of $640 million, a decrease of 1.7% compared to $651 million in the same period in 2023, impacted by a 5.6% volume decline and a 40 basis point headwind from the weakening Canadian dollar.—
Joe Cornell,
Forbes,
27 Feb. 2025
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But the Trump administration's new cuts further weaken a banking watchdog that has been sounding the alarm for years about its decreasing ability to prevent future banking crises.—
Maria Aspan,
NPR,
27 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Fudd then drained her first 3-pointer after an 0-for-2 start, and Strong followed her up with four straight points off another pair of Marquette turnovers.—
Emily Adams,
Hartford Courant,
2 Mar. 2025
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That fall and winter, constant power outages and air-raid alerts left them drained and on edge.—
Michael Holtz,
The New Yorker,
28 Feb. 2025
Verb
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The weather this year has also left abundant vegetation in the region that has desiccated in the warm, dry air.—
Umair Irfan,
Vox,
7 Dec. 2018
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Santa Anas are those desiccating winds that occur commonly in winter, blowing out of Nevada and Utah and into southwestern California.—
Amy Graff,
New York Times,
19 Jan. 2025
Verb
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But by 2011, they were exhausted by seven solid years of touring and recording.—
Andy Greene,
Rolling Stone,
1 Mar. 2025
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In this fractured reality, audiences may be exhausted but every human still needs truth, for stories that inspire, for narratives that unite through identification rather than division.—
Bing Chen,
TIME,
28 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Alcohol-based, scented formulations can also dehydrate and irritate skin.—
Bianca Salonga,
Forbes,
18 Feb. 2025
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Maranda survived but the 23-month-old was dehydrated, full of insect bites and covered in her mother's blood.—
Fernando Cervantes Jr.,
USA TODAY,
14 Feb. 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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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
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The first is a li’l pony that has to be chloroformed so Siegfried can castrate it.—
Alice Burton,
Vulture,
16 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Petrify.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/petrify. Accessed 13 Mar. 2025.
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