petrifying
adjective
pet·ri·fy·ing
ˈpe-trə-ˌfī-iŋ 
: overwhelmingly frightening
"We have not made one decision on what to do yet. It's worse than scary. It's absolutely petrifying."—
Chris Spirou
Chris SpirouWhat may be a petrifying experience for a child might seem trivial for you.—The Daily Herald (Provo, Utah)
The Daily Herald (Provo, Utah)
petrifyingly
adverb
a petrifyingly dangerous situation
Examples of petrifying in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Her earliest moments in the show have shades of a western—No Country for Old Men with a side of devout Trump supporters, sniffer dogs, petrifying cronies, and balloons stuffed with fentanyl and swallowed with lube.
—Radhika Seth, Vogue, 9 Apr. 2026
The childishness of his expressions infantilized a genuinely vicious regime, painting it as more peevish than petrifying.
—Fintan O’Toole, The New York Review of Books, 9 Apr. 2026
And so, that was petrifying to me.
—Ben Smith, semafor.com, 3 Apr. 2026
The filmmaker leans pop-comic rather than petrifying in his final draft, opting for earnestness that smothers atmospheric dread.
—Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 6 Feb. 2026
Its many nail-biting scenes are petrifying, to say the least.
—Michael Lee Simpson, Entertainment Weekly, 29 Oct. 2025
The whole thing wasn’t so much petrifying as insidiously unsettling, and all of that started with the figure of Nosferatu himself.
—Jim Shepard, New York Times, 12 Feb. 2025
Those included raging hormones, backup underwear, and petrifying prenatal tests involving giant needles.
—Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY, 31 May 2024
Democrats call it 'petrifying' Senate Democrats, however, were quick to admonish the video.
—Justin Gomez, ABC News, 21 May 2024
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Radhika Seth, Vogue, 9 Apr. 2026
The childishness of his expressions infantilized a genuinely vicious regime, painting it as more peevish than petrifying.
—Fintan O’Toole, The New York Review of Books, 9 Apr. 2026
And so, that was petrifying to me.
—Ben Smith, semafor.com, 3 Apr. 2026
The filmmaker leans pop-comic rather than petrifying in his final draft, opting for earnestness that smothers atmospheric dread.
—Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 6 Feb. 2026
Its many nail-biting scenes are petrifying, to say the least.
—Michael Lee Simpson, Entertainment Weekly, 29 Oct. 2025
The whole thing wasn’t so much petrifying as insidiously unsettling, and all of that started with the figure of Nosferatu himself.
—Jim Shepard, New York Times, 12 Feb. 2025
Those included raging hormones, backup underwear, and petrifying prenatal tests involving giant needles.
—Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY, 31 May 2024
Democrats call it 'petrifying' Senate Democrats, however, were quick to admonish the video.
—Justin Gomez, ABC News, 21 May 2024
Cite this Entry
“Petrifying.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/petrifying. Accessed 12 Apr. 2026.
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