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GRE Vocabulary Flash Cards

ossify
to turn to bone to settle rigidly into an idea
Usage It would ossify politics, limiting the opposition's growth, and could push the ruling party increasingly into racial politics to bring out its base. The rise of populist politicians who are not ashamed to play the race card has already begun. ... You can either develop it and consciously grow it as a skill, or you can watch it slowly harden and ossify into a rigid attachment to the status quo. • What change is coming? (Watch for trends and developments.) • What would happen if I embraced this ... Ossify. To harden like bone. Frieda Frock knew she needed to look her best for the drag queen competition, but if she applied one more layer of foundation she believed she'd ossify on the spot. Paroxysm. A sudden, uncontrollable outburst. ... He'd compound his problems and say 'I'm sorry' only to repeat mistakes by never learning from the previous ones. I don't know if he's being mistakenly charged here or he's let his bad decision making ossify into general insouciance about the needs and ... The attacks didn't create their homophobia—they're fully responsible for that—but it did help ossify their self-righteousness, and it's part of why they now interpret criticism as a sign that they're doing the right thing. (Incidentally, Mr Wood is a ...

ossify