Meaning & use
a closed casket
Last updated
Meanings
phrasecountable
A funeral at which the lid of the casket stays shut, so mourners do not see the dead person's body.
Grammar: Countable phrase: say 'a closed casket' or 'the closed casket', and use 'closed-casket' before a noun.
Patterns
- have a closed casket
- a closed-casket funeral
- at a closed casket
Because of the injuries, the family chose a closed casket.
The service was a closed casket, so we only saw photographs of him.
She asked for a closed casket to keep the memory of her father as he was.
phrasecountable
A casket whose lid is already shut, for example in a photograph or at a viewing.
Grammar: Same countable use; the context usually makes clear whether it means the funeral or the box itself.
Patterns
- the casket was closed
- leave the casket closed
In the photograph, a closed casket stood beside the altar.
The director said the casket would remain a closed casket throughout the ceremony.
Word forms
| plural | closed caskets |
|---|
Common combinations
- a closed-casket service
- They held a closed-casket service at the church.
- choose a closed casket
- The family chose a closed casket for the funeral.
- an open casket
- By contrast, an open casket lets people file past and see the body.
- a closed casket funeral
- A closed casket funeral is common after a serious accident.
Synonyms and how they differ
- closed coffin
- The usual British equivalent; 'casket' is the more common American word for the same box.
Opposites
Word family
- casket noun
- The decorated box in which a dead person is buried or cremated.
- open-casket adjective
- Describing a funeral where the lid is open and the body can be seen.
Commonly confused: a closed casket or casket?
a closed casket vs casket
'Casket' can also mean a small decorated box for jewels; only the funeral context gives it the meaning of a coffin.
Practice
The family chose a ______ casket because the accident had left him unrecognizable.
Choose one answer.
'Closed' fits because the body could not be shown, which is exactly why families choose a closed casket. 'Open' is the opposite and would mean the body was on view, and 'wooden' only describes the material, not whether the lid is shut.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “a closed casket”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.