corpse
Americannoun
-
corpses
plural
-
a dead body, usually of a human being.
- Synonyms:
- cadaver
-
something no longer useful or viable.
rusting corpses of old cars.
-
Obsolete. a human or animal body, whether alive or dead.
noun
verb
Synonym Usage
See body.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of corpse
First recorded in 1225–75; Middle English corps; originally spelling variant of cors ( see corse) but the p is now sounded
Explanation
Another name for a dead body is corpse. You might hear the word on TV crime shows, but a corpse doesn't have to be a crime victim, just any lifeless body. The words corpse and "corps" are often confused, and with good reason — both came from the Latin word corpus, meaning "body," and up until the 19th Century, both referred to a dead person. Around that time, the word with the "e" at the end was established as the word for a person's remains, while the other spelling was relegated to a "body" of people working together or in a military division, and very much alive!
Vocabulary lists containing corpse
Body Language: Corp ("Body")
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The Westing Game
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Beowulf vocabulary
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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:
There, at a tombstone whose name is illegible, the inspector and his crew find a corpse in a tweed suit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
Three men removed the deceased from a body bag, which they tossed aside, before returning the corpse to the coffin.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
A rare corpse flower, known for its massive size and foul stench, will bloom for just 24 to 48 hours.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
It’s sweaty, stinky time again at the Huntington Library, Art Gallery, and Botanic Gardens, where the season’s first rare corpse flower bloom is expected by July 23.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
Her long black hair tumbled across her shoulders this time, and her skin had the gray-white color of a fresh corpse.
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
Another possibility: He could be among the corpses of 1,700 Palestinians — most of them from Gaza — being held by Israel, according to Israeli media reports.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2026
Some unpaid health workers are violating safety protocols by allowing grieving families to touch highly infectious corpses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
Khanal also called for forensic testing kits to identify corpses and freezer units to store them, saying bodies that have been in water could decompose at a faster rate.
From Barron's ● Aug. 31, 2026
With many corpses badly disfigured, volunteers said several families had claimed the same body.
From Barron's ● Aug. 30, 2026
“Aristotle says in the Poetics,” said Henry, “that objects such as corpses, painful to view in themselves, can become delightful to contemplate in a work of art.”
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
