petrify

Meaning

1. To turn to stone: to harden organic matter by permeating with water and depositing dissolved minerals.
2. To produce rigidity akin to stone.
3. To immobilize with fright.
4. To become stone, or of a stony hardness, as organic matter by calcareous deposits.
5. To become stony, callous, or obdurate.
6. To make callous or obdurate; to stupefy; to paralyze; to transform; as by petrification.

Synonyms

harden

turn to stone

stiffen

fossilize

lapidify

frighten

stupefy

freeze

startle

rigidify

scare

😨

make hard

solidify

terrify

immobilize

turn into stone

ossify

calcify

paralyze

petrified

numb

paralyse

alarm

shock

⚡

steel

strike dumb

terrorize

toughen

transfix

unnerve

become rigid

be dumbfounded

mesmerise

rivet

benumb

buckram

callous

concrete

confound

consolidate

cow

🐮

cure

daydream

daze

deaden

dumbfound

dumbfounded

fossilise

impale

indurate

intimidate

mesmerize

mineralize

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈpɛ.tɹəˌfaɪ/

Etymology

From Middle French pétrifier, from Medieval Latin petrificāre, from Latin petra (“rock”), from Ancient Greek πέτρα (pétra, “rock”) + -ficāre, from facere (“do, make”), equivalent to petro- + -ify.