petrified
adjective, verb
petrified is spelled P-E-T-R-I-F-I-E-D: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,820th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, petrified means “Having undergone the process of petrification (transformation into a stony substance); turned to stone” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in petrified?
| Letters | 9: P-E-T-R-I-F-I-E-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.1 times per million words; the 27,820th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is petrified?
Petrified appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,820th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce petrified?
Petrified has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Forms of petrified
- more petrified comparative
- most petrified superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does petrified mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Having undergone the process of petrification (transformation into a stony substance); turned to stone.
- 2
Extremely afraid.
verb
- 1
simple past and past participle of petrify
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Petrified in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense transformed into stony substance:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | versteinert |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.