ossified
Americanadjective
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converted into bone
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having become set and inflexible
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slang intoxicated; drunk
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ossified
Explanation
Use the adjective ossified to describe someone who's become stuck in his ways. You might feel that your uncle has become an ossified suburban soccer dad, set in his unbending view of the world and comfortable lifestyle. When your habits or views have solidified into inflexible patterns — especially if those views are conservative — you can describe yourself as ossified. It's not a compliment to call someone ossified, since it implies an inability to change or bend or even to consider another person's viewpoint. The root is ossify, "to turn into bone," from the Latin word for "bone," os.
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.
Despite their reputation for being ossified, “many major European companies are malleable now,” says Sarah Ketterer, chief executive of Causeway Capital Management, a Los Angeles-based global investment firm.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
The proposed cleanup and redevelopment of this ossified power plant joins a growing collection of such projects across the nation.
From New York Times ● Oct. 17, 2023
Nor can you, apparently, be a successful, divorced, outspoken biracial American career woman and thrive among the hierarchically ossified, stiff-upper-lip royal family.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2023
There are the ossified standbys—YouTube, TikTok, Instagram—platforms that are lucky enough to be piloted by someone who does not possess Musk’s deeply unserious, mean-spirited disposition.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2023
What’s more, unlike the paintings bequeathed to posterity by Constable or Rembrandt, his music has not ossified, frozen for ever in time.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
