Synonyms for petrify

Grammar : Verb

Spell : pe-truh-fahy

Phonetic Transcription : ˈpɛ trəˌfaɪ

Top 10 synonyms for petrify

Other synonyms for the word petrify

Définition of petrify

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 :

I haven't seen a soul since one o'clock and I was beginning to petrify.
Extract from : « Miss Pat at Artemis Lodge » by Pemberton Ginther

Policy seems to petrify their minds when they 've got on an eminence.
Extract from : « Lord Ormont and his Aminta, Complete » by George Meredith

Then they begin to harden, presently they petrify, then business begins.
Extract from : « Mark Twain's Speeches » by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)

The poet in dealing with his own time, must also see to it that language does not petrify on his hands.
Extract from : « Instigations » by Ezra Pound

It rang down the corridor and seemed to petrify his grasp upon her.
Extract from : « The Fifth Queen » by Ford Madox Ford

So, some rare waters in Derbyshire will petrify birds'-nests.
Extract from : « Pierre; or The Ambiguities » by Herman Melville

What did she mean by that allusion to the cold people who petrify flesh to marble?
Extract from : « Shirley » by Charlotte Bront

You petrify that man at the inn by the very way you speak to him, such condemnation!
Extract from : « Sea and Sardinia » by D. H. Lawrence

Why, George, I can't say fine things to them; they freeze, they petrify me.
Extract from : « She Stoops to Conquer » by Oliver Goldsmith

Nothing so sure to petrify the warmer sensibilities as neglect and wrong.
Extract from : « She's All the World to Me » by Hall Caine

Antonyms for petrify

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