funeral
Americannoun
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funerals
plural
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the ceremonies for a dead person prior to burial or cremation; obsequies.
-
a funeral procession.
adjective
idioms
noun
-
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a ceremony at which a dead person is buried or cremated
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( as modifier )
a funeral service
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a procession of people escorting a corpse to burial
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informal worry; concern; affair
that's your funeral
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of funeral
1350–1400; Middle English (adj.) < Medieval Latin fūnerālis, equivalent to Latin fūner-, stem of fūnus funeral rites + -ālis -al 1; (noun), from early 16th cent., probably < Middle French funerailles < Medieval Latin fūnerālia, neuter plural of fūnerālis
Explanation
A funeral is a ceremony to bury or cremate the dead. If you go to a funeral, wear black and try not to seem like you're having fun. Funeral comes from the Latin root fūnus, for "dead body," and so a funeral is the ritual that surrounds taking care of a dead body. Depending on the dead person's beliefs, there will often be a representative of a religion there to honor them in a traditional way. Sometimes we use funeral for dead things other than dead people. If you just gave a really bad party, you could call it a funeral for your social life.
Vocabulary lists containing funeral
Beowulf vocabulary
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King Tut Day
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Unit 10
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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.
See Examples For:
Earl Spencer's emotional and defiant speech at her funeral added to that cloud of grievance hanging over Diana's death at the age of 36.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
Earl Spencer claims in a new book the then-Prince of Wales said "we'll forget her soon enough" during an argument over whether Princes William and Harry should walk in Diana's funeral procession.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
All three were later photographed at the funeral.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
The attachment lists three Taiwanese delegates who planned to attend the pope’s funeral and their flight details.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
His funeral took place at the beginning of the Christmas holidays, and I accompanied Togbe to each event.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
They can prepay for funerals and give gifts, as long as they do so ahead of the look-back period.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026
Until the early 1990s, the police kept a close eye on such funerals for fear of human sacrifices, according to the American anthropologist Janet Hoskins.
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
Daniel High School, sending flowers when anyone lost a parent and showing up at funerals, where he insisted on waiting in line to greet the family.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
For some grieving families, AI content provides a way to mourn their loved ones; in some cases, deepfakes featuring deceased people are used at funerals.
From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026
She married young and went away and thereafter was seen only at funerals.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
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.
