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 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 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ossified
  1. stubborn
  2. crystallized
  3. adamant
  4. petrified
  5. hardened
Adjective
  • Volatile job numbers, stubborn inflation and changes to the Fed’s communications style are all stirring up uncertainty in markets and raising the stakes for upcoming economic data releases — including this week’s inflation report.
    — John Towfighi, CNN Money, 11 Aug. 2026
  • The softening job market may complicate the calculation for the Federal Reserve, which is also battling stubborn inflation.
    — Scott Horsley, NPR, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of stubborn
Verb
  • But the moment that crystallized the problem was personal, not professional.
    — Geri Stengel, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026
  • That brittleness, though, is exactly what has made Criston’s turn toward nihilism at the end of the second season, and now crystallized in episode five, so gratifying.
    — The Editors, Vulture, 17 July 2026
Definition of crystallized
Adjective
  • Hauser is adamant European companies have the innovation and skill to do so.
    — Arjun Kharpal,Kai Nicol-Schwarz, CNBC, 14 Aug. 2026
  • In the press release, the company was adamant that the transition wouldn’t lead to layoffs.
    — Maggie Harrison Dupré, Futurism, 13 Aug. 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
  • The company under the most commercial pressure to ship its next model just told the market that the model may be able to break into hardened systems on its own.
    — Jon Markman, Forbes.com, 9 Aug. 2026
  • Graham's kind is the common one, driven by age, blood pressure, and hardened arteries.
    — Dr. Céline Gounder, CBS News, 13 July 2026
Definition of hardened

Browse Nearby Words

osmotic
ossified
ossifies
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Cite this Entry

“Ossified.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ossified. Accessed 18 Aug. 2026.

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