ex·tinct
ik-ˈstiŋ(k)t 
ˈek-ˌstiŋ(k)t
ˈek-ˌstiŋ(k)t
1
a
: no longer burning
b
: no longer active
an extinct volcano
2
: no longer existing
an extinct animal
3
a
: gone out of use : superseded
b
: having no qualified claimant
an extinct title
Examples of extinct in a Sentence
Adjective
Many of these old traditions have since become extinct.
a few overgrown ruins are all that remain of that once mighty but now extinct civilization
Recent Examples on the Web
Clare Sestanovich, New Yorker, 13 July 2025
Paleontologists have spent decades hotly debating why such magnificent beasts went extinct, the emerging picture involving a one-two punch of increasing human influence on the landscape and a warmer interglacial climate that began to change the world’s ecosystems.
—Riley Black, Smithsonian Magazine, 11 July 2025
Normally, scientists are forced to rely on a fossil's size and shape, or the collection of ancient DNA (aDNA), in order to learn more about extinct species.
—Stephanie Edwards, Discover Magazine, 10 July 2025
Scott MacDougall-Shackleton, cofounder and director of the Advanced Facility for Avian Research at Western University in London, Ontario, said that because the moa went extinct in the past few hundred years there were extensive bones, egg shell fragments, and even feathers that could be studied.
—Katie Hunt, CNN Money, 9 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for extinct
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Adjective
Someone else wanted to make a list of every species that had ever gone extinct.
—Clare Sestanovich, New Yorker, 13 July 2025
Paleontologists have spent decades hotly debating why such magnificent beasts went extinct, the emerging picture involving a one-two punch of increasing human influence on the landscape and a warmer interglacial climate that began to change the world’s ecosystems.
—Riley Black, Smithsonian Magazine, 11 July 2025
Normally, scientists are forced to rely on a fossil's size and shape, or the collection of ancient DNA (aDNA), in order to learn more about extinct species.
—Stephanie Edwards, Discover Magazine, 10 July 2025
Scott MacDougall-Shackleton, cofounder and director of the Advanced Facility for Avian Research at Western University in London, Ontario, said that because the moa went extinct in the past few hundred years there were extensive bones, egg shell fragments, and even feathers that could be studied.
—Katie Hunt, CNN Money, 9 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for extinct
Cite this Entry
“Extinct.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/extinct. Accessed 19 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
extinct
adjective
ex·tinct
ik-ˈstiŋ(k)t
ˈek-ˌ
ˈek-ˌ
: no longer existing : lacking living representatives
extinct prehistoric animals
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