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Antonyms for petrifying

Grammar : Verb
Spell : pe-truh-fahy
Phonetic Transcription : ˈpɛ trəˌfaɪ

Definition of petrifying

Origin :
  • 1590s, from Middle French pétrifier "to make or become stone" (16c.), from Latin petra "rock, crag" (see petrous) + -ficare, from facere "to make, do" (see factitious). Metaphoric sense of "paralyze with fear or shock" first recorded 1771. Related: Petrified; petrifying.
  • verb make hard
  • verb frighten
Example sentences :
  • But she is also represented in one of the stories as petrifying her victims.
  • Extract from : « Russian Fairy Tales » by W. R. S. Ralston
  • But this petrifying influence of words is after all only a superficial explanation.
  • Extract from : « Essays in Experimental Logic » by John Dewey
  • This song, so unusual among these insects, has the effect of petrifying the bees.
  • Extract from : « The Insect World » by Louis Figuier
  • I shrunk back, as if to avoid some petrifying influence that approached me.
  • Extract from : « Wieland; or The Transformation » by Charles Brockden Brown
  • This 'Petrifying Liquid' was a source of much merriment to the hands.
  • Extract from : « The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists » by Robert Tressell
  • They keep us from petrifying altogether during the dull seasons.
  • Extract from : « Homeburg Memories » by George Helgesen Fitch
  • He is as stiff as if he had been dipped in petrifying water and turned into his own statue.
  • Extract from : « Character Writings of the 17th Century » by Various
  • The petrifying influence of surprise yielded to the impetuosities of passion.
  • Extract from : « Edgar Huntley » by Charles Brockden Brown
  • The war was fast teaching me its petrifying lesson—to be incapable of horror.
  • Extract from : « Tell England » by Ernest Raymond
  • There it opens out into huge caverns, and rises up into great cracks and chambers caused by the petrifying stony water.
  • Extract from : « First in the Field » by George Manville Fenn

Synonyms for petrifying

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019