ossifying
Turning to bone
Ossifying means turning into bone, or becoming rigid and inflexible.
Literally, cartilage ossifies as it hardens into bone tissue.
Figuratively, institutions or thinking ossify when they become fixed and resistant to change: an ossifying bureaucracy, His views were already ossifying by middle age.
The process suggests gradual hardening rather than sudden rigidity.
Accumulating calcium deposits
- hardeningBecoming less soft
- bone formationCreating skelite tissue
- cartilageFlexible connective body tissue
- calcium depositsAccumulated mineral in tissue
mineralization · skeletal · joints · arthritis · spurs · stiffening · periosteum · osteoblasts
Making firm and unbending
- stagnatingCeasing to develop
- bureaucratizingMaking administratively complex
- fossilizingTurning into preserved remains
- entrenchingFirmly establishing something
inflexible · dogmatic · hidebound · calcified · petrifying · unchanging · institutionalized · codifying
Making dull or ineffective
- deadeningLessening intensity or sensitivity
- formulaicFollowing a set template
- derivativeFunction's rate of change
- uninspiredLacking creative spark
conventional · predictable · stale · repetitive · imitative · unoriginal · mechanical · rote
calcifying
Accumulating calcium deposits
- hardeningBecoming less soft
- bone formationCreating skelite tissue
- cartilageFlexible connective body tissue
calcium deposits · mineralization · skeletal · joints · arthritis · spurs · stiffening · periosteum · osteoblasts · collagen
rigidifying
Making firm and unbending
- stagnatingCeasing to develop
- bureaucratizingMaking administratively complex
- fossilizingTurning into preserved remains
entrenching · inflexible · dogmatic · hidebound · calcified · petrifying · unchanging · institutionalized · codifying · formalizing
stultifying
Making dull or ineffective
- deadeningLessening intensity or sensitivity
- formulaicFollowing a set template
- derivativeFunction's rate of change
uninspired · conventional · predictable · stale · repetitive · imitative · unoriginal · mechanical · rote · lifeless
- hardeninghardening, stiffening, solidification, solidifying, rigidifying
ossifyingsoftening
Becoming less firm
decalcifying · demineralizing · dissolving · liquefying · degenerating
ossifyingevolving
Changing gradually over time
adapting · flexing · innovating · transforming · liberalizing