Synonyms of petrify

21 similar words

Another word for petrify is terrorize. Other synonyms of petrify are alarm, affright, appall, dismay and frighten.

Synonyms and similar words for petrify

alarm
affright literaryTo inspire fright in; to frighten, to terrify.
appallTo fill with horror or indignation; to dismay.
dismay
frighten
give someone the shits vulgarTo creep someone out; to scare someone.
harrow
horrifyTo cause to feel extreme apprehension or unease; to cause to experience horror.
make someone's blood run cold
mortifyTo scare.
scare
scare straightTo frighten (someone) to such a degree that a significant improvement in behavior results.
scare the bejeebers out of slangTo terrify thoroughly.
scare the hell out of slangTo frighten (someone or an animal).
scare the pants off of slang
scare the shit out of slangTo make someone scared shitless.
terrorizeTo fill (someone) with terror; to terrify.
terrify
spook
fray archaic
grill Scotland, obsoleteTo terrify; make tremble.

verb To turn to stone: to harden organic matter by permeating with water and depositing dissolved minerals.
verb To produce rigidity akin to stone.
verb To immobilize with fright.

What is another word for petrify?: Petrify has 21 synonyms on Word.ws, such as terrorize, alarm, affright, appall, dismay, frighten, give someone the shits and harrow.
What does petrify mean?: Petrify means to turn to stone: to harden organic matter by permeating with water and depositing dissolved minerals.

Adapted from Wiktionary: petrify (page history and authors) and the entries of the words listed. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws grouped the synonyms and antonyms by meaning and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “Synonyms of petrify.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/synonyms/petrify. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.