MEANING
The formal rites and ceremonies performed for a dead person.
Use it for
Elaborate mourning rites, official death ceremonies, historical narration.Emphasize ceremony as a coordinated sequence rather than one speech or burial.
Words that belong together
- perform the obsequies
- solemn obsequies
- royal obsequies
On the page
The obsequies continued for three days.
He paid for his mother's obsequies but refused to attend them.
Records of the royal obsequies omitted the disputed heir.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- obsequies
Usage notes
Primary category: gothic. Plural-only in ordinary modern usage; elevated and uncommon, not routine conversation. Plural noun; no ordinary singular form in this sense.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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