de-extinct
Americanverb (used with object)
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“Eventually it’s going to come out that they didn’t de-extinct the dire wolf or the moa,” Lynch says.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2026
“I’d hate to have to be trying to de-extinct wolves once they go extinct, right?”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 12, 2025
It announced that it used "deft genetic engineering and ancient DNA "to breed three dire wolf puppies and to "de-extinct" the species.
From BBC ● Apr. 8, 2025
Other proposals, like those to de-extinct the passenger pigeon, aim to correct a previous human error.
From Slate ● Jan. 28, 2023
Rothschild took the argument even further, wondering whether someone could attempt to de-extinct a Neanderthal for commerce or simply in the name of science.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 29, 2019
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
