Meaning & use
mourners
Last updated
UK/ˈmɔː.nəz/
US/ˈmɔːr.nɚz/
“mourners” is a form of “mourner”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meaning
nounplural
People who attend a funeral or show sorrow because someone has died.
Grammar: Plural of mourner: many mourners came.
Patterns
- mourners at something
- mourners gather
Hundreds of mourners filled the church to say goodbye.
The mourners followed the coffin to the cemetery.
Mourners left flowers outside the singer's home.
Word forms
| singular | mourner |
|---|
Common combinations
- mourners gathered
- Mourners gathered in the rain outside the church.
- grieving mourners
- The grieving mourners hugged one another.
- chief mourner
- The widow was the chief mourner at the service.
- mourners lined the street
- Mourners lined the street as the procession passed.
- hired mourners
- In some traditions, hired mourners cry at funerals.
Synonyms and how they differ
- grievers
- Grievers is less common and describes anyone who feels grief, not only those at a funeral.
- funeral guests
- Funeral guests simply names who attends, whereas mourners also suggests sadness.
- bereaved
- The bereaved are family and close friends who have lost someone, which is narrower than mourners.
Opposites
celebrants
Word family
Commonly confused: mourners or morners?
mourners vs morners
This is a misspelling. The correct spelling is mourners.
Practice
Who are the mourners at a funeral?
Choose one answer.
Mourners are people who grieve or attend a funeral. The other groups may be present but are not called mourners.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “mourners”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.
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