Extinct

/ɪkˈstɪŋkt/ adj, noun, verb

adj, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level

Meaning at a glance

  • Primary sense: Synonym of extinction (“the action of becoming or making extinct; annihilation”).
  • Grammar: extinct is listed as adj, noun, verb.
  • Nearest alternatives: ago, all bets off, all gone, all off.
  • Useful contrasts: dormant, active, contemporary.
  • Usage evidence: Many animals that lived thousands of years ago are now extinct.

How to use "extinct"

  1. Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
  2. Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "extinct" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
  3. Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.

Meaning check

  • Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
  • Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
  • Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
  • Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?

Source and review context

This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "extinct" in a final draft.

If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.

Before you rely on this definition

Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "extinct" as the right word for your sentence.

If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "extinct" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.

Compare nearby meanings

  • Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
  • Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
  • Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
  • Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.

Definition decision workflow

1. Identify the role

Check whether "extinct" is acting as adj, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.

2. Test the nearest option

Compare it with "ago" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.

3. Confirm with context

Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.

Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.

Final meaning check

Before publishing a sentence with "extinct", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.

When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Synonym of extinction (“the action of becoming or making extinct; annihilation”). obsolete, transitive, uncountable

    "[W]ho is he […] as vvould not euen in the glas of Lucreſias perſeuerãce (euẽ to the vttermoſt extinct of life) ſe the vvõder of bevvty, matched vvith the indiuiduat adiũt vnſoyled conſtancy."

Verb
  1. 1
    Synonym of extinguish.; To stop (fire, etc.) from burning; also, to stop (light, etc.) from shining; to put out, to quench. obsolete, transitive

    "[…] Eugenia […] was put in the hot baths, which were extincted, and ſhe preſerued: […] At laſt the ſtorie ſaith, ſhée was with the ſword beheaded."

  2. 2
    Synonym of extinguish.; To kill (someone). figuratively, obsolete, transitive
  3. 3
    Synonym of extinguish.; To put an end to (something) completely; to annihilate, to destroy. figuratively, obsolete, transitive

    "Graunt that al ſinne & vice here maie bee ſo extinct: that thei neuer haue power to raigne in they ſeruaũtes. Amẽ."

  4. 4
    Synonym of extinguish.; 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). figuratively, obsolete, specifically, transitive

    "Paleontologists determine which animal species were extincted, and geomorphologists can find cycles of soil erosion. […] The first settlers were living along the coast of this very large island off Africa [Madagascar], but in about seven hundred years they had spread across the entire island and in the process extincted almost all large game, including hippos, tortoises, giant lemurs—some two dozen species in all."

  5. 5
    Synonym of extinguish.; To suppress (something, as feelings, a person's spirit, a state of affairs, etc.); to quench. figuratively, obsolete, transitive

    "It is more hard, loue to our ſelues to extinkt, / Then hate to other, to plucke from tharts preſinkt, / Thus, of iuſtice no let ledeth intrupcion, / Like this loue (name ſelfe loue) growne of corrupcion."

Show 1 more definition
  1. 6
    Synonym of extinguish.; To abolish or make void (a law, a legal right, etc.); also, to cancel (a creditor's claim, a licence, etc.). figuratively, obsolete, transitive

    "So if I have a rent charge, and grant it upon condition; now, though the condition be broken, the grantee's estate is not defeated till I have made my claim: but if after any such grant my father purchase the land, and it descend to me; now, if the condition be broken, the rent ceaseth without claim. But if I had purchased the land myself, then I had extincted mine own condition, because I had disabled myself to make my claim."

Adjective
  1. 1
    Of fire, etc.: no longer alight; of a light, etc.: no longer shining; extinguished, quenched. archaic, not-comparable

    "Edward’s cigarillo was extinct by the time he had finished talking."

  2. 2
    Of feelings, a person's spirit, a state of affairs, etc.: put out, as if like a fire; quenched, suppressed. figuratively, not-comparable

    "My breath is corrupt, my dayes are extinct, the graues are ready for me."

  3. 3
    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. figuratively, not-comparable

    "Luckily, such ideas about race are extinct in current sociological theory."

  4. 4
    Of an animal or plant species or group of species, a group of people, a family, etc., having no living members, representatives, or descendants. figuratively, not-comparable

    "Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years."

  5. 5
    Of a geological feature: no longer active; specifically, of a volcano: no longer erupting. figuratively, not-comparable

    "Most of the volcanos on this island are now extinct."

Show 2 more definitions
  1. 6
    Of a radioisotope: no longer occurring primordially due to having decayed away completely, because it has a relatively short half-life. figuratively, not-comparable
  2. 7
    Of a person: dead; also, permanently separated from others. figuratively, not-comparable, obsolete

    "[H]e may at lybertie / Paſſe ſaue without hys ieopardy / Tyll that he be from vs extyncte / And clerely out of helles precincte"

Adjective
  1. 1
    (of e.g. volcanoes) permanently inactive wordnet
  2. 2
    being out or having grown cold wordnet
  3. 3
    no longer in existence; lost or especially having died out leaving no living representatives wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
agoall bets offall goneall offall overall up

Example

"Many animals that lived thousands of years ago are now extinct."

Common questions

What does "extinct" mean?

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

What is a synonym for "extinct"?

Common synonyms include: ago, all bets off, all gone, all off, all over, all up.

How do you use "extinct" in a sentence?

Many animals that lived thousands of years ago are now extinct.

How do you pronounce "extinct"?

Pronounced /ɪkˈstɪŋkt/.

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Late Middle English extinct (“eliminated, eradicated, extinguished”), from Latin extīnctus, exstīnctus (“extinguished, quenched; destroyed, killed; made extinct”), the perfect passive participles of extinguō, exstinguō (“to extinguish, put out, quench; (figurative) to abolish; to destroy, kill”), from ex- (prefix meaning ‘away; out’) + stinguō (“to extinguish, put out, quench”) (from Proto-Indo-European *stengʷ- (“to push”)). The Middle English word displaced Middle English aqueint, aquenched (“extinct; extinguished”). Doublet of extinguish.

Etymology 2

From Middle English extincten (“to extinguish or put out (a fire, light, etc.); to destroy, kill; (figurative) to suppress (an uprising); (law) to quash or stop (legal proceedings); to cancel (a privilege, title, etc.); (medicine) to eliminate or reduce (inflammation, an ulcer, etc.)”), from extinct (adjective) (see etymology 1) + -en (suffix forming the infinitive of verbs).

Etymology 3

Either: * from Latin extīnctus, exstīnctus, a noun use of the perfect passive participle of extinguō, exstinguō (see etymology 1); or * from the verb (see etymology 2).

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Synonyms

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