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extinct

extinct

102 3.6
No living members remain of a species or language
  • adjective
  • /ɪkˈstɪŋkt/
translation icon : extinto
  • The woolly mammoth has been extinct for thousands of years.
  • become extinct
  • go extinct
  • extinct species

So they'll be able to use extinct species to help combat modern global warming.

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Examples

  • The dodo bird is a famous example of a species that is now extinct.

  • Siberian tigers went extinct in 2017.

  • The species was going extinct before our eyes and will probably not last another generation.

    Academic text (1990)
  • But this species became completely extinct before the dawn of time.

  • These things have been extinct for over 150 million years.

  • Someday, a species that has been extinct for thousands of years will walk again.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • Some of these little animals were extinct by the time Europeans arrived.

    Academic text (1990)
  • So large number of species went extinct in the Himalaya.

  • While the moas are New Zealand's most famous extinct birds, many others have been described from fossil bones.

    Academic text (1990)
  • Many animals are currently facing the risk of becoming extinct due to habitat loss.

Synonyms

defunct
vsextinct
30 7.0

No longer used or working, like a company that closed

means complete loss of living examples rather than mere stopped use
nonextant
vsextinct
  • Formal
9.9

Not existing any more

refers specifically to things that died out with no living examples remaining

Antonyms

1.0

Still present and not dead

11 8.6

Still existing and not destroyed or lost

How Threatened

extinct
102 3.6
Mead's milkweed
  • Specialized
1 9.9
rare animal
2 6.4
vulgaris
  • Specialized
9.4

Surface Forms

extinct positive

Etymology

Extinct comes from Latin parts ex- meaning 'out' and stinguere meaning 'to put out', and it shares the same root as extinguish. So a species that is extinct is like a fire that has been 'put out' — it no longer exists.