pet ‧ ri ‧ fied /ˈpetrəfaɪd, ˈpetrɪfaɪd/ BrE AmE adjective
[ Date: 1400-1500 ; Language: French ; Origin: pétrifier , from Greek petra 'rock' ]
1 . extremely frightened, especially so frightened that you cannot move or think
petrified of
I’m petrified of spiders.
petrified with fright/fear
He was petrified with fear when he saw the gun.
2 . petrified wood/trees etc wood, trees etc that have changed into stone over a long period of time
—petrify verb [transitive]
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THESAURUS
■ very frightened
▪ terrified very frightened:
He looked terrified as the plane took off.
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James was absolutely terrified of losing his only child.
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He dragged the terrified woman into his car.
▪ petrified very frightened – used especially when you are so frightened that you cannot think or move:
She’s absolutely petrified of spiders.
▪ scared stiff/scared to death informal very frightened:
I had to make a speech, and I was scared stiff.
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She was scared to death of her father.
▪ in terror written if you do something in terror, you do it because you are very frightened:
People fled in terror as the building went up in flames.