possibly extinct

[ pos-uh-blee ik-stingkt ]

adjective

, Biology, Ecology.

1. (as categorized by the IUCN Red List ) critically endangered to such an extent that evidence of its existence is profoundly limited and extremely difficult to verify: : PE

   We can hope to find survivors among a possibly extinct species, but sadly we know how unlikely that is.

Word History and Origins

Origin of possibly extinct¹

First recorded in 2005–10

Example Sentences

Waesche, meanwhile, though dormant and possibly extinct, may offer an answer to the most pressing question in Antarctic volcanology: With ice melting ever more quickly, will the volcanoes grow more active?

From Science Magazine

“We were ignoring vast amounts of DNA from unknown or possibly extinct organisms.”

From Science Magazine

Two years later, Mr. Thayer mounted an elephant as part of an expedition to seek a possibly extinct Southeast Asian bovine called a kouprey.

From Washington Post

Add in the number of possibly extinct species and the tally comes to 573.

From Reuters

Among the most seriously threatened reptiles, Young said, is Chapman's pygmy chameleon, a small lizard inhabiting low elevation rainforests in Malawi that had been considered possibly extinct but now has been found in a few forest fragments.

From Reuters