pay your respects

Meanings

1. 1phraseidiomformal

   To show honor and sadness for someone who has died, usually by going to the funeral, visiting the grave or offering sympathy to the family.

   Grammar: The pronoun changes with the subject: I paid my respects, she paid her respects.

   Patterns

   • pay your respects to someone
   • pay your last respects

   Hundreds of neighbors came to pay their respects to the retired teacher.

   We stopped at the cemetery to pay our respects to my grandfather.

   She flew home to pay her last respects to an old friend.

2. 2phraseidiomformalold-fashioned

   To make a polite, short visit or greeting to a person of rank or authority as a sign of courtesy.

   Grammar: Often used with go or visit; the object follows to.

   Patterns

   • pay your respects to someone

   The new ambassador called on the mayor to pay his respects.

   Before the meeting, the visitors paid their respects to the headmaster.

   I should go and pay my respects to our host.

Word forms

Common combinations

pay your last respects

Mourners lined up to pay their last respects.

come to pay your respects

Many people came to pay their respects at the church.

pay respects to the family

He went to the house to pay respects to the family.

pay your respects at the grave

We paid our respects at the grave on his birthday.

go to pay your respects

I want to go and pay my respects before I leave town.

Synonyms and how they differ

mourn

Mourn is about feeling and showing grief, while pay your respects is a specific, polite action like attending or visiting.

honor

Honor is more general and can mean praising someone living, whereas pay your respects is mostly about the dead.

pay tribute

Pay tribute usually involves public praise or a speech, whereas pay your respects can be quiet and private.

offer condolences

Offer condolences means to express sympathy to the bereaved, while paying respects may be to the dead person too.

Opposites

Word family

respect noun

admiration or courteous regard

respects noun

polite greetings or formal expressions of regard

respectful adjective

showing proper regard for someone

respectfully adverb

in a polite and honoring way

Commonly confused: pay your respects or pay attention? pay your respects or pay respect?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “pay your respects”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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