funereal
Americanadjective
-
of or suitable for a funeral.
-
mournful; gloomy; dismal.
a funereal aloofness that was quite chilling.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of funereal
1715–25; < Latin fūnere(us) of, belonging to a funeral + -al 1 ( def. )
Explanation
Funereal describes the mood in a locker room after an overtime loss in a championship game — sad, serious and gloomy, as if you were at a funeral. The word funereal comes from the Latin funus which means, not surprisingly, "funeral." It is often figuratively used to describe solemn or dismal things as well as something that is related to a burial ceremony. Funereal music is gloomy and often played at a slow pace. If you don't want to seem overly serious, you might want to wear a navy blue suit to your job interview rather than funereal black.
Vocabulary lists containing funereal
Pre-AP Theatre
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Billy Budd
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Each Little Bird That Sings
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But fast forward two weeks and the mood music surrounding the national team is funereal.
From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026
Still, more venues are restricting phone use to ensure that the atmosphere is festive, not funereal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 31, 2025
You can futz with the bread, you can gild the cheese, but if the core is bland or watery or vaguely funereal, the whole enterprise collapses.
From Salon ● Dec. 4, 2025
The infamous “waxworks” scene captures silent-era figures like Buster Keaton playing cards, their faces pure funereal alabaster.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2025
In the fall of 1980, Maya Lin was a senior at Yale University, taking a class on funereal architecture, studying how cemeteries and monuments reflect attitudes toward death.
From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
