petrifying

verb

Definition of petrifyingnext
present participle of petrify
as in undermining
to deprive of emotional or intellectual vitality groupthink and peer pressure have so petrified the thinking of the company's top brass that they haven't produced an innovative product in years

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for petrifying
  1. undermining
  2. exhausting
  3. draining
  4. weakening
  5. enervating
  6. wearing
  7. deadening
  8. desiccating
Verb
  • Opposition parties and human rights organizations have accused Erdogan of undermining democracy and curbing freedom of expression.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 3 July 2026
  • Allies include Brin’s Building a Better California, which is bankrolling two counter-measures aimed at undermining the billionaire tax.
    — Ben Paviour July 2, Sacbee.com, 2 July 2026
Definition of undermining
Verb
  • And more than a decade into the LHC era, neither frontier has come close to exhausting its potential.
    — Florencia Canelli, Scientific American, 1 July 2026
  • That matters because unloading mixed freight can be exhausting work.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 30 June 2026
Definition of exhausting
Verb
  • The floor sink beneath the 3-comp sink was draining slowly and observed unclean.
    — Veronica Fernandez-Alvarado July 3, Sacbee.com, 3 July 2026
  • Their variety of runs and rotations are hard for any side to defend against, with the Spaniards slowly draining your physical and mental energy across the course of 90 minutes (or more).
    — Mark Carey, New York Times, 2 July 2026
Definition of draining
Verb
  • Goldman Sachs predicts a sustained dollar weakening in 2026, driven by fiscal concerns and shifting global asset demand, marking a structural shift rather than a cyclical dip.
    — Jason Kirsch, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026
  • Ukrainian officials describe the strikes as a campaign to pressure Moscow to end the war by undermining its military logistics and supply lines and weakening its ability to mount assaults along the front.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 1 July 2026
Definition of weakening
Verb
  • Campbell, the North Carolina folk singer, describes an enervating process marked by back-and-forth exchanges and lots of waiting.
    — Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 25 Mar. 2026
  • Jenny deflected me with enervating ease.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 13 Mar. 2026
Definition of enervating
Verb
  • Doctors Without Borders health workers wearing personal protective equipment move through the isolated red zone to monitor patients, provide medical care and ensure sanitation at the Ebola Treatment Center in Munigi in Congo on June 2, 2026.
    — Chloe Taylor, CNBC, 6 July 2026
  • Rodríguez Castro can be seen wearing a New York Yankees shirt, moving suggestively to driving percussive beats, punctuated by catchy, syncopated vocals.
    — Romina Ruiz-Goiriena, USA Today, 6 July 2026
Definition of wearing
Verb
  • Sam Lambert laid down a safety squeeze, deadening the ball in front of the plate and scoring Balls to trim the lead to 3-1.
    — Dave Montrose, The Orlando Sentinel, 16 May 2026
  • Another suggestion was requiring special sound-deadening balls, currently available, that lower the decibel levels considerably.
    — John Ramos, CBS News, 16 Mar. 2026
Definition of deadening
Verb
  • Another advantage of long and narrow leaves is their ability to withstand heavy rainfall and battering or desiccating winds.
    — Joshua Siskin, Oc Register, 4 June 2026
Definition of desiccating
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.

Browse Nearby Words

petrify
petrifying
pets
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Cite this Entry

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

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More from Merriam-Webster on petrifying

Nglish: Translation of petrifying for Spanish Speakers

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