funereal
adjUK /fjuːˈnɪəɹɪ.əl/
Etymology From Middle French funerail, from Latin funereus + -al.
1
Of or relating to a funeral.
- From the belfries far and near the funereal deathbell tolled unceasingly while all around the gloomy precincts rolled the ominous warning of a hundred muffled drums punctuated by the hollow booming of pieces of ordnance.1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 12: Cyclops]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC, part II [Odyssey], pages 293–294:
- Seven were chosen to push the funereal boat to the water, in honor of the seven faces of god.2000 August 8, George R[aymond] R[ichard] Martin, “Catelyn [Stark]”, in A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire; 3), London: Voyager, →ISBN, page 392:
2
Figuratively Similar to or befitting the mood or elements of a funeral: slow; black colors; formal; dignified or solemn.
- A funereal gloom prevailed over the whole ſcene.1786, [William Beckford], translated by [Samuel Henley], An Arabian Tale, from an Unpublished Manuscript: […] [Vathek], London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC, page 196:
- "Sounds curst funereal, Zeb! O my poor nunky! Go fetch 'em, Sergeant, and let me see 'em—'twill distress and pain me I know but—go fetch 'em!"1918, Jeffery Farnol, Our Admirable Betty:
1 more example
- There was something menacing and uncomfortable in the funereal stillness, in the muffled, subtle trickle of distant brooks, and in the crowding green peaks and black-wooded precipices that choked the narrow horizon.1931, H. P. Lovecraft, chapter 6, in The Whisperer in Darkness:
- Derived terms
- funereally