petrify
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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“Nosferatu” is more retelling than remake, like a myth that takes on new, sickly detail to petrify the curious as it’s passed down through the years.
From Salon ● Dec. 24, 2024
But the department’s letter was sent days ago without public comment, and its reported warning that the lottery may be illegal isn’t likely to petrify scofflaws such as Musk and Trump.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 24, 2024
“But you’ve just got to stay ready whenever your opportunities come. They just come and go, so you’ve just got to stay ready for it you. Can’t really petrify yourself for the time being.”
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 21, 2023
This should petrify his colleagues — and the rest of the country, too.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 23, 2023
He had thought basilisks were huge dragonlike monsters that could petrify you with their eyes.
From "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan
One can imagine how the thought of going to jail petrifies him.
From Salon ● May 10, 2024
It petrifies teachers who fear their students will use it instead of their brains for school papers.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 6, 2023
As the resin petrifies and turns into amber, it preserves whatever gets stuck inside of it—including insects, slime molds and even pint-sized dinosaurs—in a gold-tinted time capsule.
From Scientific American ● Jan. 12, 2023
Every time Clifton Collins Jr. boards a flight midproduction, the possibility of the aircraft crashing petrifies him.
From New York Times ● Dec. 31, 2021
But I feared it would be presumption in one so young and unknown, and I dreaded meeting the haughty British stare with which an Englishman petrifies one he considers unduly forward.
From The Rose of Old St. Louis by Mary Dillon
Meadows says their new team member's credentials "absolutely petrified" her and Painter initially.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
"But I was adrenaline-soaked, scared, petrified," she said.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Dramatizations of the several lives studied put figurative flesh on the petrified bodies of the volcano victims, and those who escaped such a fate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
“They were petrified before arriving,” she said, “but they still came and had an incredible time.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 27, 2026
Hermione gasped in a petrified whisper; Ron, however, spoke to Black.
From "Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban" by J.K. Rowling
The reason I’m so fascinated with a subject I find petrifying is that math has become proof of how AI can warp an entire field—and how fast it can happen.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
A family have told of the "petrifying" moment a tree smashed through the windows of their house in Fort William.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2025
The self-infantilizing is disconcerting to watch, and no doubt petrifying to experience firsthand, but Gaga dodges the fan and gets into her waiting vehicle.
From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2025
After proving that I would be a viable “Survivor” contestant, we went in search of the truly petrifying item on our list.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 14, 2023
It was an eardrum-piercing, bloodcurdling nightmare of a scream, petrifying enough to make even a Swanburne girl forget all her antipanicking skills.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
Vocabulary lists containing petrify
Tyrannosaurus Lex(icon)
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The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
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