funeral director
Americannoun
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a person, usually a licensed embalmer, who supervises or conducts the preparation of the dead for burial and directs or arranges funerals.
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a person who owns or operates a funeral home.
noun
Etymology
Origin of funeral director
An Americanism dating back to 1885–90
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.
A British funeral director faced prison Monday over a scandal that saw bodies left "stored on racks" and uncremated while relatives were handed other people's ashes, sparking calls for better regulation of the industry.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
Undertakers in England and Wales can operate without a licence, with anybody free to set themselves up as a funeral director.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
Another "very serious incident" happened three years later, she said, involving the release of the wrong baby to a funeral director.
From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2026
The night before her send-off at Gwent Crematorium, in Croesyceiliog, funeral director Kirsty Sailes bought 72 of the beef and tomato variety for mourners.
From BBC ● Apr. 15, 2026
We started quiet, but soon exploded, as the kindly funeral director pretended not to listen and our mother just stared at us implacably, through the fog of her own pain.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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.
