mourner
mourner — noun
- mournersingular
- mournersplural
1. someone who goes to a funeral — this could be a family member or friend of the p
someone who goes to a funeral — this could be a family member or friend of the person who died, or a person hired to weep and show sorrow at the ceremony.
The Watanabe family stood among the mourners at the small church service.
A hired mourner wept loudly as the coffin was carried into the hall.
passive: was carried into
Mourners placed white flowers on the grave, one by one, in silence.
Dr. Okafor arrived early to greet the mourners before the ceremony began.
In some cultures, mourners wear black clothes for many weeks after the funeral.
- funeral-goer
more casual; someone who attends a funeral but may not be emotionally connected to the dead person
- bereaved
more formal noun use; specifically refers to family members who have lost someone, not to hired mourners
用法筆記
This sense covers both relatives and friends of the dead person as well as professional mourners paid to attend the ceremony. Distinguish from sense 2, which is about the emotion of grief and does not require attendance at a funeral.
2. someone who is grieving, typically because a person they loved has died.
someone who is grieving, typically because a person they loved has died.
The elderly woman sat alone in her flat, a mourner lost in quiet sorrow.
As a mourner, the young widow found it hard to eat or sleep for days.
Niko sat weeping on the kitchen floor, a mourner clutching his wife's unread letter.
The support group welcomed every mourner with tea, tissues, and a listening ear.
Even months later, mourners can be caught off guard by a familiar song or smell.
- griever
more direct and modern; focuses purely on the emotional state without any funeral association
- bereaved person
more formal; stresses the fact of having lost someone rather than the ongoing feeling of grief
用法筆記
This sense emphasises the emotional experience of grief, not the social role of attending a funeral. A mourner in this sense may never set foot in a funeral at all — they are defined by what they feel, not where they stand.