extinct

American  

[ik-stingkt] / ɪkˈstɪŋkt /

adjective

1. no longer in existence; having ended or died out.

   extinct pre-Colombian societies.

2. Biology, Ecology. (of a plant or animal species) having no living member remaining anywhere, not in the wild, in a naturalized population, nor in captivity, as categorized by the IUCN Red List: EX

   a list of extinct animals that once inhabited the Isle of Man.

   Synonyms:

   gone, defunct

3. no longer in use; obsolete.

   an extinct custom.

   Synonyms:

   archaic

4. extinguished; quenched; not burning.

   evidence of a half dozen extinct campfires.

   Synonyms:

   out

5. Geology. (of a volcano) not having erupted for at least 10,000 years and not expected to erupt again.

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extinct British  

/ ɪkˈstɪŋkt /

adjective

1. (of an animal or plant species) having no living representative; having died out

2. quenched or extinguished

3. (of a volcano) no longer liable to erupt; inactive

4. void or obsolete

   an extinct political office

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extinct Scientific  

/ ĭk-stĭngkt′ /

1. Having no living members. Species become extinct for many reasons, including climate change, disease, destruction of habitat, local or worldwide natural disasters, and development into new species (speciation). The great majority of species that have ever lived—probably more than 99 percent—are now extinct.

2. No longer active or burning, as an extinct volcano.

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Synonym Usage

See dead.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unextinct
  adjective
• nonextinct
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of extinct

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin ex(s)tinctus, past participle of ex(s)tinguere; see origin at extinguish ( def. )

Explanation

Something that no longer exists and has no living representative is extinct. Dinosaurs are extinct. Polar bears may become extinct. Sadly, history teachers who force their students to memorize long lists of dates are in no danger of becoming extinct. You often hear of a species being extinct: there are no living representatives of the species left. But extinct also describes something that has gone out or grown cold, as in a dormant volcano "extinct volcano" or a tobacco pipe whose flame has died out "extinct pipe." That’s because extinct comes from the Latin extinguere/exstinguere for "extinguish." Originally extinct referred to fires that died out (were extinguished). Its meaning grew to encompass a family line and then a species.

Example Sentences

To test these assumptions, we analysed more than 500 teeth from 27 primate species, both extinct and living.

From Science Daily • Jun. 8, 2026

In 2014-15, she helped with a county-wide survey, but said: "We searched diligently but very sadly concluded that water voles were functionally extinct in Surrey."

From BBC • Jun. 2, 2026

Watched and photographed by a host of humans, the annual migration of the sandhill crane, once nearly extinct, begins from an Indiana wetland in the twilight of late fall.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 29, 2026

Colossal’s latest announcement was that it has hatched 26 chickens in an “artificial egg” — a “foundational step,” it said, “toward resurrecting extinct bird species” such as the New Zealand giant moa and the dodo.

From Los Angeles Times • May 21, 2026

In November, he paid eighteen pence to a Uruguayan farmer for a piece of a colossal skull of yet another extinct mammal—the rhinolike Toxodon, with giant squirrel teeth—that had once roamed the plains.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee