funeral

American  

[fyoo-ner-uhl] / ˈfju nər əl /

noun

• funerals
  plural

1. the ceremonies for a dead person prior to burial or cremation; obsequies.

2. a funeral procession.

---

adjective

1. of or relating to a funeral.

   funeral services; funeral expenses.

idioms

1. be someone's funeral, to have unpleasant consequences for someone.

   If you don't finish the work on time, it will be your funeral!

funeral British  

/ ˈfjuːnərəl /

noun

1. 1. a ceremony at which a dead person is buried or cremated

   2. ( as modifier )

      a funeral service

2. a procession of people escorting a corpse to burial

3. informal worry; concern; affair

   that's your funeral

---

funeral More Idioms  

1. see it's your funeral.

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• prefuneral
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• funerals
  plural

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

funeral funerals

Ask about their fees, whether they have minimum asset requirements, and ensure that the trust is structured to allow for funeral expenses.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026

One of the deadliest single incidents in July was a strike on a reported funeral procession in Nuseirat.

From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026

Nepali families were holding symbolic funeral ceremonies to "liberate the souls" of loved ones missing since deadly flash floods swept away their villages and homes in the Himalayan region a week ago.

From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026

The family of Chandra Bahadur Newar also conducted his funeral in a similar manner.

From Barron's ● Sep. 1, 2026

She’d trimmed her straw hat with a ribbon of funeral purple.

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck

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

He oversaw more than 2,000 funerals during his career.

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 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

But they’d learned the hard way that funerals were expensive, that hiring lawyers was even worse, that when you lost a loved one, it sucked your finances dry.

From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro

Related Words

• burial
• cremation