Meaning & use
open casket
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountableAmerican
A funeral at which the dead person's body lies in a coffin that stays open so mourners can see it.
Grammar: Countable: say an open casket or open caskets; it often comes after the noun it describes, as in an open-casket service.
Patterns
- an open casket
- have an open casket
- an open-casket funeral
- a closed casket
Her family chose an open casket so friends could say a last goodbye.
At the open casket, people filed past quietly and spoke in whispers.
Some religions do not allow an open casket, so the service was closed.
adjectivebefore a nounAmerican
Describing a funeral or viewing where the coffin is left open for mourners to see the body.
Grammar: Used only before a noun, as in an open-casket viewing; you would not say the viewing was open-casket.
Patterns
- an open-casket funeral
- an open-casket viewing
- an open-casket service
They held an open-casket viewing the evening before the burial.
The family asked for an open-casket funeral, which surprised some guests.
In an open-casket service, the lid stays raised during the ceremony.
Word forms
| plural | open caskets |
|---|
Common combinations
- an open-casket funeral
- Many people in the region prefer an open-casket funeral.
- an open-casket viewing
- The open-casket viewing lasted about two hours.
- have an open casket
- They decided to have an open casket despite the long illness.
- a closed casket
- After the accident, the family chose a closed casket.
- file past the open casket
- Mourners filed past the open casket in silence.
Synonyms and how they differ
- open coffin
- The usual British term for the same practice; use it with British readers, and open casket with American ones.
- viewing
- Names the event where people see the body, not the fact that the coffin is open; a viewing may be open or closed.
Opposites
Word family
- casket noun
- The coffin itself; in American English a rectangular or shaped box for a dead body.
- closed-casket adjective
- Describing a funeral where the coffin stays shut.
Commonly confused: open casket or casket? open casket or coffin?
open casket vs casket
A casket is the box for the body; open casket refers to the box being left open at a funeral, not to the box itself.
open casket vs coffin
Coffin is the general British word for the same object; casket is the usual American choice.
Practice
Which sentence uses the term correctly?
Choose one answer.
An open casket means the coffin is left open at a funeral so mourners can see the body, as in option 2. Option 4 contradicts itself (open then closed), and option 3 uses casket for a storage box, which is not the funeral meaning here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “open casket”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.