How to Use funereal in a Sentence

funereal

adjective
  • Some were dressed in funereal black and a few men in formal morning coats with vests.
    — William Booth, Washington Post, 17 Sep. 2022
  • The flight home from London was solemn to the point of funereal.
    — George Caulkin, New York Times, 25 May 2026
  • The late-night ride back to campus that might feel funereal if the Bruins lose.
    — Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 30 Sep. 2022
  • Streetlights were painted over in a funereal blue color to thwart air raids.
    — Sam Roberts, Foreign Affairs, 2 June 2015
  • The next seven frames felt funereal.
    — Chandler Rome, New York Times, 22 Sep. 2025
  • Dressed in a pristine white tracksuit, Biles sat atop a vault, which was flanked by funereal white flowers.
    — Anna Lazarus Caplan, Peoplemag, 4 Sep. 2024
  • Her ghost of Christmas future is a funereal specter without a face, circled by dark moths.
    — Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune, 25 Dec. 2024
  • Ghosting the News, as the bearer of very bad news about the news itself, adopts an aptly funereal feel.
    — Megan Garber, The Atlantic, 11 July 2020
  • But among the watchdog groups that monitored the meeting closely, the tone was funereal.
    — Kate Graham-Shaw, Scientific American, 9 Aug. 2024
  • The shafts of light homed in on a spectral figure — a slim, dark-haired woman dressed in white, moving at a funereal pace and plaintively singing.
    — Elisabetta Povoledo Alessandro Penso, New York Times, 13 May 2024
  • Hindu priests, clad in white, dropped to their knees to lead funereal ceremonies for families who had lost an uncle, a father.
    — Kai Schultz, New York Times, 3 Oct. 2017
  • Halfway through, the mood shifts, and those hopeful swirls morph into declarative, funereal piano chords.
    — Philip Sherburne, Pitchfork, 28 Aug. 2023
  • The mood around the JBX Talks conference this week was funereal.
    — Christopher Vourlias, Variety, 7 Mar. 2026
  • During the time of the pharaohs, gold was often used to decorate the funereal masks of rulers like King Tutankhamen.
    — Jacey Fortin, Star Tribune, 11 Feb. 2021
  • The song, originally light and airy, now sounds almost funereal, as Faithfull’s voice comes close to cracking.
    — Robert Levine, Billboard, 1 Feb. 2025
  • If anything, the material frailty of the image helps focus your attention on its funereal mood.
    — Teju Cole, New York Times, 23 Sep. 2020
  • Castel Sant'Angelo is suddenly a tomb again, gloomy and funereal.
    — Stanley Stewart, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Mar. 2021
  • The decision to reclaim funereal black may have been sparked by her determination to shuck off the shackles of mourning.
    — The Editors, Robb Report, 28 Mar. 2024
  • With little coming back from Spurs fans, whose outlook is on the bleak side of funereal, there is nothing for Newcastle to bounce off.
    — George Caulkin, New York Times, 11 Feb. 2026
  • But this time, the mood among the congregation’s many Indigenous members was funereal.
    — Michael E. Miller, Washington Post, 20 Oct. 2023
  • When the public address announcer asked for a moment to remember all who died in the pandemic, the place felt downright funereal.
    — Sean Gregory, Time, 23 July 2021
  • Some pieces in the Diker Collection are sacred, such as a shaman’s rattle made of human or horse hair; some are funereal and were buried with the dead.
    — Kathleen Sharp For Propublica, Anchorage Daily News, 26 Apr. 2023
  • The whole thing managed to repackage the hyper-feminine clichés beloved by #coquettes as something dark and mysterious and even funereal.
    — Daniel Rodgers, Vogue, 26 Feb. 2024
  • The proceedings were clinical in nature, funereal in spirit and took all of 30 minutes.
    — Elizabeth Robinson, NBC news, 9 Apr. 2026
  • The mood was funereal, two employees who wished to remain anonymous told TIME.
    — Time, 31 Oct. 2022
  • Black attire at a wedding looks funereal, and was traditionally considered a protest.
    — Judith Martin, Sun Sentinel, 6 June 2026
  • Not explained is whether Makary would be happier if drug companies placed ads with immobile patients, frowns, and funereal music.
    — John Tamny, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
  • The Wakandans wear funereal white, which is traditional in West African cultures.
    — Emily Zemler, Los Angeles Times, 19 Dec. 2022
  • By video’s end, Shane is changing from his baggy jeans and Vans snapback into funereal black pants and a button-down, and lighting yet another smoke.
    — Joseph Hudak, Rolling Stone, 29 Sep. 2023
  • Far from funereal, The Moon is in the Wrong Place harnesses a purity and hope that might be the band’s signature.
    — Liza Lentini, SPIN, 7 May 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'funereal.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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