petrify
Example Sentences
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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
Imperfect though “Romulus” may be, it’s also a solid entry in a slate of films whose original maker has taken the extended story seriously enough to petrify it.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 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
“Same as your minotaur horn. But don’t unwrap the head. It can still petrify you.”
From "The Lightning Thief" 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
I waive the quantum o' the sin, The hazard o' concealing, But och! it hardens a' within, And petrifies the feeling.'
From Harvard Classics Volume 28 Essays English and American by Charles William Eliot
Tracy, who was raised at the farm in Llanbister in Powys, would sometimes think about calling Childline as she said she felt so petrified.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
“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
Meadows says their new team member's credentials "absolutely petrified" her and Painter initially.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 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
I was petrified at first, and then glad.
From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank
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
Worse still, it isn’t actually necessary to look to space for petrifying danger.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
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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