Meaning & use
final rites
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Meanings
nounusually pluralformal
The religious ceremonies performed for a person who is dying or has just died, such as prayers and blessings.
Grammar: Usually plural: the priest performed the final rites.
Patterns
- perform the final rites
- receive the final rites
The priest was called to perform the final rites at the bedside.
He received the final rites shortly before he died.
The family asked a pastor to say the final rites for their father.
nounusually pluralfigurative
The closing ceremonies or actions that mark the end of something, such as a project, tradition or era.
Grammar: Figurative use, often with the verb read or perform.
Patterns
- read the final rites over something
- the final rites of something
Critics read the final rites over the old factory when it closed its gates.
The meeting felt like the final rites of a long partnership.
Fans gathered to perform the final rites of the stadium before it was demolished.
Common combinations
- perform the final rites
- A local priest performed the final rites.
- receive the final rites
- She received the final rites in the hospital chapel.
- administer the final rites
- The chaplain administered the final rites.
- read the final rites
- Commentators read the final rites for the failed project.
- give someone the final rites
- They gave the dying man the final rites.
Synonyms and how they differ
- last rites
- Last rites is the more familiar phrase, especially for the Catholic sacrament for the dying, and the two are often used interchangeably.
- funeral rites
- Funeral rites are carried out after someone has died, while final rites can happen before death.
- last offices
- Last offices is a British term that can mean ceremonial prayers, or the nursing care given to a body after death.
- death rites
- Death rites is a broad term for ceremonies connected with dying in many cultures, and is less tied to Christian practice.
Opposites
Word family
- rite noun
- a formal religious or traditional ceremony
- ritual noun
- a set series of actions performed according to tradition
- ritualistic adjective
- done in a fixed ceremonial way
- rites of passage noun
- ceremonies marking a stage in life
Commonly confused: final rites or final rights? final rites or writes?
final rites vs final rights
Rights are legal or moral entitlements, while rites are ceremonies. Final rites is the correct spelling for the death ceremony.
final rites vs writes
Writes sounds the same as rites but is the verb form of write.
Practice
The dying man asked for a priest to come to the hospital and perform the ______.
Choose one answer.
Final rites are religious ceremonies for the dying. Final rights is the tempting wrong choice because rites and rights sound identical, but rights are legal entitlements.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “final rites”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.