OSSIFIED Synonyms: 150 Similar and Opposite Words

ossified 1 of 2

adjective

as in stubborn

sticking to an opinion, purpose, or course of action in spite of reason, arguments, or persuasion the company's ossified management team failed to see the technological revolution that was sweeping their own industry

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ossified

2 of 2

verb

past tense of ossify

as in calcified

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of ossified

Adjective

These had a head dominated by large eyes and a partially ossified jaw—but again, no external gills. — Jacek Krywko, ArsTechnica, 23 June 2026 The collective dream was for a new, democratic structure that could replace Assad’s ossified legal regime. — Anand Gopal, New Yorker, 28 Feb. 2026 Poking out of the vertical wall of a cutbank in a seasonally dry river was a vertebra – part of the backbone – and some ossified tendons. — Paul C. Sereno, The Conversation, 24 Oct. 2025 This year’s awards narrative was already feeling especially ossified. — David Sims, The Atlantic, 22 Jan. 2026 The status quo—an ossified theocracy presiding over a bankrupt economy and an aggrieved populace—has already proven unsustainable. — Ali Vaez, Time, 15 Jan. 2026 And he's taken aim at the foreign policy apparatus, describing institutions like the NSC and State Department as having been ossified and out of touch. — Franco Ordoñez, NPR, 26 Jan. 2026 But rather than simply repeat the even-then ossified list of events leading to the invention of photography and the medium’s later innovations, the book uses a series of stories, reminiscences, and tall tales to describe how photography transformed everyday (and not so everyday) experience. — Literary Hub, 27 Apr. 2026 Lockhart, a mathematician who taught first at Brown University and UC Santa Cruz and then for many years at Saint Ann’s, a progressive private school in Brooklyn, argues that the injury is due to our ossified K–12 mathematics curriculum. — Dan Rockmore, The New York Review of Books, 19 Mar. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for ossified

Adjective

Colombia earned its passage into the round of 16 with a 1-0 win over stubborn Ghana.

— Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, 6 July 2026
Pickle Robot’s Physical AI unloaders tackle the dock door bottleneck, which is a stubborn pain point in inbound logistics, while AmbiStack handles the structured, high-volume stacking that feeds downstream operations.

— Arthur Zaczkiewicz, Footwear News, 6 July 2026

Definition of stubborn

Verb

The previous night’s service, in which the entire kitchen pulls together under Sydney’s leadership, crystallized his need to move on.

— Jake Kring-Schreifels, Time, 26 June 2026
While rumblings of discontent had long swirled around Starmer’s leadership within Labour following a string of missteps, unpopular policy decisions and costly U-turns, the local elections in early May crystallized the rebellion.

— Joe Mayes, Fortune, 22 June 2026

Definition of crystallized

Adjective

While waiting to go to court, Zaayer remained adamant that Shawna needed to go to prison but was also convinced that David — who worked at the nearby jail — was protecting his wife from receiving an adequate punishment, per The Guardian.

— Caroline Blair, PEOPLE, 3 July 2026
But Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has been adamant that there are not enough votes in the Senate to pass the legislation, given the 60-vote filibuster threshold.

— Mabinty Quarshie, The Washington Examiner, 28 June 2026

Definition of adamant

Verb

The first film follows a group of French high-school students who travel to Naples on a school trip to discover the ruins of Pompeii and the bodies petrified by Vesuvius.

— Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 20 May 2026
Johansson plays her with a tough edge to match her Queens accent, but Hester is clearly petrified by this perfect storm of ugly events.

— David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 16 May 2026

Definition of petrified

Adjective

Follow these steps to get rid of hardened residue, odors, and germs, and learn how to make outdoor trash cans a little less yucky.

— Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 3 July 2026
Hauser played hardened ranch foreman Rip Wheeler on the Paramount Network series that ran from 2018 to 2024.

— Brayden Garcia, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 1 July 2026

Definition of hardened

Browse Nearby Words

osmotic

ossified

ossifies

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“Ossified.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ossified. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of ossified

adjective

verb

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