pyre

noun

ˈpī(-ə)r 

: a combustible heap for burning a dead body as a funeral rite

broadly : a pile of material to be burned

a pyre of dead leaves

Examples of pyre in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Carcasses of trees are piled up like pyres in one; in another, they are laid flat like a mass grave. — Sean Timberlake, Sacbee.com, 23 Feb. 2026

Varanasi was quite an experience, seeing the funeral pyres. — Simon Vozick-Levinson, Rolling Stone, 16 Feb. 2026

The pyre and human remains were found near the base of Mount Hora, a granite mountain that rises abruptly from and towers hundreds of feet above an otherwise flat plain. — Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 6 Jan. 2026

In Germany, northeastern France and many parts of Scandinavia and the Baltic, people still build elaborate bonfire pyres to light in the evening and tend long into the night. — Thomas A. Dubois, The Conversation, 17 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

Latin pyra, from Greek, from pyr fire — more at fire

First Known Use

1587, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for pyre

• acquire
• attire
• bonfire
• campfire
• ceasefire
• conspire
• desire
• enquire
• entire
• greenbrier
• gunfire
• homebuyer

Kids Definition

pyre

noun

ˈpī(ə)r 

: a heap of wood for burning a dead body

also : a pile of material to be burned