petrify

“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

"They're being sold as generic medications, and that petrifies me."

From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2025

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

Secondly, The water of Giezer in Iceland, actually petrifies bodies which are alternately imbibed with that hot water and exposed to the air.

From Theory of the Earth, Volume 1 (of 4) by James Hutton

“I kinda sorta put my acting career on hold the other day. It’s been something I’ve been petrified to do for years,” Krumholtz said in a post on Threads, per Deadline.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026

But executives are petrified of reducing dividends because it suggests distress.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

"But I was adrenaline-soaked, scared, petrified," she said.

From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026

“I don’t think I’d be doing my job right if I wasn’t petrified every time I put a film out.”

From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2026

Behind the lamassu, more columns sprouted from the ground like ancient trees in a petrified forest, forty feet tall, spindly but still miraculously upright.

From "Darius the Great Is Not Okay" by Adib Khorram

“This was the most petrifying part, not being able to be there to shield your kids and know if they were safe,” he said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 15, 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

"I didn't know what was going on. We didn't know whether he’d survived, it was so nerve wracking. It was the longest two hours of my life. It was awful; it was petrifying."

From BBC ● May 21, 2024

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 there, hanging in open air—stentorian and petrifying in its effects.

From "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov