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mourner

mourner

39 4.0
A person who feels sad because someone has died
  • noun
  • /ˈmɔrnər/
translation icon : doliente
  • The church was filled with mourners who gathered to honor the beloved community leader.
  • mourners at a funeral
  • comfort the mourners
  • mourners who blamed

I was lying before once, while we sat quiet as mourners on the front porch.

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Examples

  • Many hours for the mourners to remember their dead.

  • The grieving family sets a banquet for the mourners, thanking the guests (xie ke).

    Academic text (1998)
  • Many vehicles, numerous mourners on foot.

  • There were no flowers and no mourners.

  • However, the attention is not for the man being laid to rest, but rather, for one of the mourners.

  • After a moment's respectful delay, the mourners began gathering themselves to leave the church.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • The funerals, which will be held tomorrow in Jerusalem... are expected to draw tens of thousands of mourners.

  • The graveside service has just ended, and the mourners are beginning to disperse.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • On the veranda of the gracious home, mourners pay their respects to the family.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • At the cemetery, the mourners stood bareheaded, the sun glinting off their hair.

    Fiction book (1990)

Synonyms

crier
vsmourner
6 6.1

A person who often sheds tears, for example at sad movies

is someone who feels grief especially over death, not merely frequent crying
bereaved
vsmourner
  • Formal
2 7.8

A person who has lost someone they loved to death

is the general person showing or feeling grief, not only those who lost someone
griever
vsmourner
1 7.2

A person who feels deep sadness after someone close dies

is a more general person feeling grief, not only from close loss
wailer
vsmourner
1 7.9

A person who cries loudly for a long time to show they are very sad, often at funerals

is a general grieving person, not defined by loud vocal behaviour
keener
vsmourner
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A person who loudly cries and sings at a funeral

is a normal grieving person, not someone serving a ritual role
sorrower
vsmourner
8.4

A person who feels deep sadness after losing someone

is a broader term for anyone showing or feeling grief, not only deep sorrow
bereaved person
vsmourner
  • Formal
6.7

A person whose close family member or friend has died

is any person who expresses or feels grief, not only loss victims
lamenter
vsmourner
  • Literature
7.7

A person who shows sadness at a funeral or after a death

is the person who feels or shows grief generally, not only loud expression
weeper
vsmourner
  • Archaic
9.9

A person paid to cry at funerals

is an ordinary person feeling grief, not a paid performer at ceremonies
tearer
vsmourner
7.9

A person who cries easily or often

is a person who expresses grief over death rather than general tearfulness

Antonyms

62 1.8

Feeling very happy and showing it

4 5.9

A person who takes part in a party or special event

How Grieving

bereaved person
  • Formal
6.7
mourner
39 4.0
griever
1 7.2

Surface Forms

mourner singular
mourners plural

Morphology

mourner = mourn (transparent) = mourn + er

Formed regularly from the verb 'mourn' with the agentive suffix '-er', yielding a person who mourns.

Etymology

Mourner comes from the simple verb mourn, which means 'feel grief' or 'be sad'. A helpful way to remember it is to picture someone quietly 'moaning' with sadness at a funeral, because a mourner is a person who shows or feels that grief.