petrify

Meanings

Verb

cause to become stonelike or stiff or dazed and stunned
change into stone
make rigid and set into a conventional pattern
- "slogans petrify our thinking"
To turn to stone: to harden organic matter by permeating with water and depositing dissolved minerals.
To produce rigidity akin to stone.
To immobilize with fright.
To become stone, or of a stony hardness, as organic matter by calcareous deposits.
To become stony, callous, or obdurate.
To make callous or obdurate; to stupefy; to paralyze; to transform; as by petrification.

Origin / 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.

Synonyms

affright, alarm, appall, dismay, fray, frighten, give someone the shits, grill, harrow, horrify, lapidify, make someone's blood run cold, ossify, petrify, rigidify, scare, scare straight, scare the bejeebers out of, scare the pants off of, spook, terrify, terrorize

Scrabble Score: 15

petrify is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
petrify is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
petrify is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 15

petrify is a valid Words With Friends word