adjective

petrified

PET-rih-fyd/ˈpetrɪfaɪd/

Changed into stone or a stone-like substance.

The petrified wood preserves its growth rings in solid stone.

A broken section of petrified wood: its recognizable trunk shape, bark relief, and growth rings are preserved in visibly mineralized stone.

Etymology

petrLatinrock

+ifiLatinto make

+edEnglishpast participle

The literal image is being made into stone. Applied to fright, it describes people so overwhelmed that they seem unable to move, as though turned to stone.

In context

Full Movies in English HD25:05

I'm afraid of heights. You mean, once he made me dive? Everyone was yelling at me to leave, and I just stood there, petrified.

A Curious Young Woman | Alicia Silverstone (Clueless) | THRILLER | Full Movie in English

More examples

Petrified logs lie scattered across the desert.
The museum displays a petrified tree trunk.
Polishing brings out the colors in petrified wood.

Forms

petrified

petrify verb — To turn into stone or a stone-like substance.

petrification noun — The process of becoming stone or stone-like material.

Similar words

fossilized: Preserved from the distant past, not necessarily changed into stone.
mineralized: Containing added or replacement minerals, without necessarily becoming stone-like.