fossilized
Americanadjective
-
(of the remains of an organism) having organic substances replaced with mineral ones; converted into a fossil.
-
rigidly antiquated.
-
having become the lifeless or disused remains of something; being merely a trace of the past.
Other Word Forms
- nonfossilized adjective
- semi-fossilized adjective
- unfossilized adjective
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
By examining the fossilized feathers, researchers identified a continuous line of black spots along the wing edges.
From Science Daily • Mar. 18, 2026
The frequent appearance of animated creatures suggests someone was quite fond of the CGI available, but the 3-D images of fossilized remains on the screens of the biological historians—and how they read them—are consistently fascinating.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 10, 2026
Her fossilized sea urchin, from a beach on the Red Sea, “responds by radiating its own inner joy at being found and loved too,” whispering: “We are two cyclical beings, each with their own story.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 16, 2026
Some chemical markers were linked to estrogen-related genes, indicating that certain fossilized animals were female.
From Science Daily • Jan. 3, 2026
She found sea glass and a fossilized crab leg embedded in a concretion.
From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
