ossify

[ os-uh-fahy ]

verb (used with object)

, os·si·fied, os·si·fy·ing.

1. to convert into or cause to harden like bone.

verb (used without object)

, os·si·fied, os·si·fy·ing.

1. to become bone or harden like bone.
2. to become rigid or inflexible in habits, attitudes, opinions, etc.:

   a young man who began to ossify right after college.

ossify

/ ˈɒsɪˌfaɪ /

verb

1. to convert or be converted into bone
2. intr (of habits, attitudes, etc) to become inflexible

Derived Forms

• ˈossiˌfier, noun

Other Words From

• ossi·fier noun
• un·ossi·fying adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of ossify¹

1705–15; < Latin ossi- (stem of os ) bone + -fy

Word History and Origins

Origin of ossify¹

C18: from French ossifier, from Latin os bone + facere to make

Example Sentences

The ossifying Republican opposition has prompted Democrats to accuse Mr Johnson and others of bowing to pressure from Mr Trump, who has urged his Capitol Hill allies to kill the bill.

From BBC

The proposed cleanup and redevelopment of this ossified power plant joins a growing collection of such projects across the nation.

From New York Times

Nor can you, apparently, be a successful, divorced, outspoken biracial American career woman and thrive among the hierarchically ossified, stiff-upper-lip royal family.

From Los Angeles Times

“It’s an ossified bastion of stodgy old engineers,” he said.

From Seattle Times

They would be astonished at the rank unfreedoms justified by invoking their names and saddened by conservatives' efforts to ossify the Constitution in an imaginary past.

From Salon