extinct

Fetched 2026-10-27 (live).

Synonyms: extict

Antonyms: extict

Related words from Datamuse; suggestions, not definitions.

Adjective

1. Of fire, etc.: no longer alight; of a light, etc.: no longer shining; extinguished, quenched.
   • Edward’s cigarillo was extinct by the time he had finished talking.
2. Of feelings, a person's spirit, a state of affairs, etc.: put out, as if like a fire; quenched, suppressed. Of customs, ideas, laws and legal rights, offices, organizations, languages, etc.: no longer existing or in use; defunct, discontinued, obsolete; specifically, of a title of nobility: no longer having any person qualified to hold it.
   • Luckily, such ideas about race are extinct in current sociological theory.
   • The title became extinct when the last baron died.
   • Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years.
   • Most of the volcanos on this island are now extinct.
   • They found the sites of extinct geysers.
3. Of feelings, a person's spirit, a state of affairs, etc.: put out, as if like a fire; quenched, suppressed.
4. Of customs, ideas, laws and legal rights, offices, organizations, languages, etc.: no longer existing or in use; defunct, discontinued, obsolete; specifically, of a title of nobility: no longer having any person qualified to hold it.
   • Luckily, such ideas about race are extinct in current sociological theory.
   • The title became extinct when the last baron died.
5. Of an animal or plant species or group of species, a group of people, a family, etc., having no living members, representatives, or descendants. (Discuss this sense)
   • Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years.
6. Of a geological feature: no longer active; specifically, of a volcano: no longer erupting.
   • Most of the volcanos on this island are now extinct.
   • They found the sites of extinct geysers.
7. Of a radioisotope: no longer occurring primordially due to having decayed away completely, because it has a relatively short half-life.
8. Of a person: dead; also, permanently separated from others.

Verb

1. Synonym of extinguish. To stop (fire, etc.) from burning; also, to stop (light, etc.) from shining; to put out, to quench. To kill (someone). To put an end to (something) completely; to annihilate, to destroy. To cause (an animal or plant species) to die out completely or become extinct (adjective etymology 1 sense 2.3).
2. To stop (fire, etc.) from burning; also, to stop (light, etc.) from shining; to put out, to quench.
3. To kill (someone).
4. To put an end to (something) completely; to annihilate, to destroy. To cause (an animal or plant species) to die out completely or become extinct (adjective etymology 1 sense 2.3).
5. To cause (an animal or plant species) to die out completely or become extinct (adjective etymology 1 sense 2.3).
6. To suppress (something, as feelings, a person's spirit, a state of affairs, etc.); to quench.
7. To abolish or make void (a law, a legal right, etc.); also, to cancel (a creditor's claim, a license, etc.).

Noun

1. Synonym of extinction (“the action of becoming or making extinct; annihilation”).

Source: Wiktionary · CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wiktionary) · cached copy, not a rewrite.