fossilized

adjective

fos·​sil·​ized ˈfä-sə-ˌlīzd 

1

: having been changed into a fossil : subjected to fossilization

fossilized wood

And in 1997 he found several thousand fossilized eggs from a giant sauropod, or plant-eating dinosaur, just 120 miles north. The find included the first-known fossilized dinosaur embryos, as bits of fossilized dino-skin.

—Eric Niiler

2

: old and unchanging or outmoded

fossilized notions

As the mountains get higher, the houses become tin-roof shacks, with yards full of fossilized appliances and ancient cars.

—Elizabeth Gilbert

: made firm, fixed, or rigid by the passage of time

I love the living language more than the fossilized variety with its hardened meanings and set-in-stone lexicon.

—Paul McFedries

I know when I took photos in the past I was looking either for particularly artistic shots or ones that might become fossilized memories adorning a mantel.

—Robert W. Lucky

Synonyms of fossilized

• archaic
• obsolete
• antiquated
• prehistoric
• medieval

Examples of fossilized in a Sentence

fossilized notions about the proper place of women in society

Recent Examples on the Web

The Giant Octopus Fossil That Unlocked Everything The discovery is based on giant octopus fossil evidence — specifically, fossilized beaks (jaws), which are the only hard parts of an octopus’s body and the only parts likely to survive over millions of years. —Ryan Brennan, Kansas City Star, 24 Apr. 2026

The team studied fossilized jaws and the wear patterns on them to reconstruct the sizes and feeding behaviors of the ancient octopuses. —Kate Wong, Scientific American, 23 Apr. 2026

Traces of ancient diets in fossil teeth To determine which plants ancient animals ate, my colleagues and I collect a small amount of enamel powder from fossilized teeth. —Zelalem Bedaso, The Conversation, 17 Apr. 2026

Northern California’s Petrified Forest is a surreal landscape full of massive, fossilized redwood trees, preserved by an eruption of nearby Mount Saint Helena millions of years ago. —Cu Fleshman, Travel + Leisure, 12 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1794, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for fossilized

• acclimatized
• actualized
• aerosolized
• alphabetized
• aluminized
• anaesthetized
• anesthetized
• annualized
• antagonized
• apologised
• apologized
• capitalised