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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Recent Examples of ossified
Franco Ordoñez, NPR, 26 Jan. 2026
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
His narrators—never too distinct from the author himself—relish exploring their childhoods in the Sovietized Bulgaria of the nineteen-seventies and eighties, measuring that artificially ossified world against modern consumerist Europe.
—James Wood, New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2025
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
Really late developers, who might not be fully grown until around 20 or 21, could be 25 before their apophyseal sites are fully ossified.
—Sarah Shephard, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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
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
His narrators—never too distinct from the author himself—relish exploring their childhoods in the Sovietized Bulgaria of the nineteen-seventies and eighties, measuring that artificially ossified world against modern consumerist Europe.
—James Wood, New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2025
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
Really late developers, who might not be fully grown until around 20 or 21, could be 25 before their apophyseal sites are fully ossified.
—Sarah Shephard, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ossified
Adjective
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Experts warn that the stubborn metric has long-term implications for learning.—
Kate Armanini,
Chicago Tribune,
26 Jan. 2026
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Wait 10 minutes before washing for milder stains or up to a week for more severe or stubborn stains.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
26 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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New York — Luigi Mangione will not face the death penalty for allegedly killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December 2024, a federal district judge ruled Friday, dealing a blow to US prosecutors who were adamant about pursuing the ultimate sentence.—
Kara Scannell,
CNN Money,
30 Jan. 2026
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DeSantis has been adamant that his administration broke no laws.—
Alexandra Glorioso,
Miami Herald,
29 Jan. 2026
Verb
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That recognition crystallized in late 2022 as the broader market began to grasp the implications of generative AI.—
Peter High,
Forbes.com,
29 Jan. 2026
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The career-defining move crystallized a journey that began a decade prior.—
DeAsia Paige,
AJC.com,
28 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Joel, played by Pedro Pascal, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone.—
Katie Campione,
Deadline,
26 Jan. 2026
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The greatest concern, however, is over the Ghwayran Prison in al-Hasakah, where thousands of hardened ISIS inmates are still being held.—
Omar Abdulkader,
CBS News,
20 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The only issue is his mother Laura (Wright), a woman who has lost a child once before and is petrified of a repeat.—
Lily Ford,
HollywoodReporter,
5 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ossified.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ossified. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.
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