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

• antiquated
• archaic
• dated
• démodé
• demoded
• kaput
• kaputt
• medieval
• mediaeval
• moribund
• mossy
• moth-eaten
• neolithic
• Noachian
• obsolete
• out-of-date
• outdated
• outmoded
• outworn
• passé
• prehistoric
• prehistorical
• rusty
• Stone Age
• superannuated

Examples of fossilized in a Sentence

fossilized notions about the proper place of women in society

Recent Examples on the Web

Because soft tissue does not preserve well, finding fossilized tissue is rare. —Monica Cull, Discover Magazine, 19 Dec. 2024

The first evidence of the species—in the form of fossilized leaves—came to light in eastern Utah in 1969. —Newsweek, 18 Dec. 2024

Researchers first discovered the fossilized footprints in July 2021 while excavating the eastern shore of Lake Turkana in Kenya at a site called Koobi Fora. —Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 Dec. 2024

In a new study, scientists analyzed hundreds of fossilized droppings and vomit, called bromalites, to reconstruct dinosaur food webs, uncovering how they were influenced by climate and by other species’ extinction. —Alexa Robles-Gil, Smithsonian Magazine, 3 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1794, in the meaning defined at sense 1