obituary

American  

[oh-bich-oo-er-ee] / oʊˈbɪtʃ uˌɛr i /

noun

• obituaries
  plural

1. a notice of the death of a person, often with a biographical sketch, as in a newspaper.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or recording a death or deaths.

   the obituary page of a newspaper.

obituary British  

/ əˈbɪtjʊərɪ /

noun

1. a published announcement of a death, often accompanied by a short biography of the dead person

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• obituarist
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• obituaries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of obituary

1700–10; < Medieval Latin obituārius, equivalent to Latin obitu ( s ) death ( see obit) + -ārius -ary

Explanation

An obituary is the notice of someone's death. It is placed in the newspaper to alert others to the death. It gives a background about the deceased's life, usually listing survivors and giving funeral information. The noun obituary, which appears in English in the early 18th century, comes from the Latin obīre, where ob- means "toward," and īre, "to go," suggesting a "going toward" one's death. The first obituary as we know it probably appeared shortly after the invention of the printing press and included just the bare facts of the death. In 19th-century England, the announcements became more elaborate, and photos were added in the 20th century, making the modern obituary more like an elaborate eulogy.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

obituary obituaries

According to Gus Hall’s obituary in the New York Times in 2000, Communist Party enrollment “had dwindled to about 3,000, down from a peak of about 66,000 in 1939.”

From Slate ● Sep. 18, 2026

"The life of comrade Zhu Rongji was a life of revolution, a life of struggle, a life of glory," an obituary jointly issued by China's top political bodies said, according to Xinhua.

From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026

She gave the infant her last name in his obituary.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

In its obituary, the William F. Buckley-founded National Review praised the former secretary of state as a man who spent his life tamping down turmoil.

From Salon ● Jul. 21, 2026

Between the beats she had ample time to write her own obituary.

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan

As much as he was revered during his nearly two decades as Fed chairman for protecting the stock market from a series of crashes and near-crashes, his obituaries take a more measured view.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026

“Most obituaries are written in haste with the help of a funeral director,” said James R. Hagerty, a longtime obituary writer for the Wall Street Journal.

From MarketWatch ● May 19, 2026

Annabelle Williams is a publishing editor with a focus on obituaries.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026

The obituaries, social media posts and GoFundMe pages capture the utter despair of the families, though none of them reckon with the decision not to get the vitamin K shot.

From Salon ● May 7, 2026

And the document included a copy of obituaries for Keith and Jim published in the Herald Journal, Logan’s local newspaper, on September 25, three days after the accident.

From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel

Related Words

• eulogy
• obit