OSSIFIED Synonyms: 150 Similar and Opposite Words

ossified 1 of 2

adjective

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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ossified

2 of 2

verb

past tense of ossify

as in calcified

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Example Sentences

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.

Recent Examples of ossified

Adjective

In her film, Sanguinetti presents a subtle thread about the nature of western spaces defined by ossified traditions, the face of which is being altered by the specter of modernity. — Vikram Murthi, IndieWire, 5 Sep. 2026 In his view, abolishing the proscenium would help dismantle ossified hierarchies. — Justin Davidson, Curbed, 29 July 2026 These had a head dominated by large eyes and a partially ossified jaw—but again, no external gills. — Jacek Krywko, ArsTechnica, 23 June 2026 But rather than simply repeat the even-then ossified list of events leading to the invention of photography and the medium’s later innovations, the book uses a series of stories, reminiscences, and tall tales to describe how photography transformed everyday (and not so everyday) experience. — Literary Hub, 27 Apr. 2026 Lockhart, a mathematician who taught first at Brown University and UC Santa Cruz and then for many years at Saint Ann’s, a progressive private school in Brooklyn, argues that the injury is due to our ossified K–12 mathematics curriculum. — Dan Rockmore, The New York Review of Books, 19 Mar. 2026 The collective dream was for a new, democratic structure that could replace Assad’s ossified legal regime. — Anand Gopal, New Yorker, 28 Feb. 2026 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

Recent Examples of Synonyms for ossified

Adjective

Earlier, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller suggested that more interest rate rises may be needed to tackle stubborn inflation, which has stayed above the Fed's 2% target for more than five years.

— Hugh Leask,Sean Conlon, CNBC, 9 Oct. 2026
The apparent disconnect between a recovery in oil supply and stubborn fuel prices has drawn attention from analysts.

— ABC News, ABC News, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of stubborn

Verb

Diamonds are crystallized under tremendous pressure and heat deep inside the Earth and then thrust to the surface through volcanic activity before they’re scattered by water or wind.

— LAURA TURBAY, ABC News, 2 Oct. 2026
This was crystallized in a new event, called Transformation Day, which took place April 26 in the French capital’s Palais de Tokyo museum.

— Jennifer Weil, Footwear News, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of crystallized

Adjective

Lander was adamant that rezonings didn’t have to go the way of Williamsburg.

— Kim Velsey, Curbed, 9 Oct. 2026
In a time when both the comic book and art community are grappling with artists using generative AI in their work, Long is adamant that digital painting is cool but says using AI and selling the art as original is a huge problem.

— Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of adamant

Verb

The first film follows a group of French high-school students who travel to Naples on a school trip to discover the ruins of Pompeii and the bodies petrified by Vesuvius.

— Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 20 May 2026
Johansson plays her with a tough edge to match her Queens accent, but Hester is clearly petrified by this perfect storm of ugly events.

— David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 16 May 2026

Definition of petrified

Adjective

Its government, dominated by hardened veterans of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and largely indifferent to the suffering of the Iranian population, appears determined to fight on.

— RICHARD HAASS, Foreign Affairs, 23 Sep. 2026
Severe neuropathy can dull the sensation of excessive pressure, raising injury risk, and advanced lymphedema with hardened swelling calls for medical advice first.

— Samantha Agate, Sacbee.com, 14 Sep. 2026

Definition of hardened

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osmotic

ossified

ossifies

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“Ossified.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ossified. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of ossified

adjective

verb

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