as in memorial
a special structure or statue that is built to remind people of a dead person who is buried somewhere else
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Recent Examples of cenotaph
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, the city’s mayor and other officials laid flowers at the cenotaph.
—
Mari Yamaguchi,
Chicago Tribune,
5 Aug. 2025
Tombs were frequently located by the sea, especially cenotaphs – empty graves meant to memorialize those who died at sea and whose bodies could not be recovered.
—
Marie-Claire Beaulieu,
The Conversation,
28 July 2025
Instead of the vast open space, there are now hundreds of near identical cenotaphs, each featuring the name and a picture of a victim.
—
Ivana Kottasová,
CNN,
7 Oct. 2024
Her bed has become her grave, a tomb beneath the ceiling of her room,
the ceiling a cenotaph.
—
Mosab Abu Toha,
The New Yorker,
30 Sep. 2024
See All Example Sentences for cenotaph
Mari Yamaguchi,
Chicago Tribune,
5 Aug. 2025
Tombs were frequently located by the sea, especially cenotaphs – empty graves meant to memorialize those who died at sea and whose bodies could not be recovered.
—
Marie-Claire Beaulieu,
The Conversation,
28 July 2025
Instead of the vast open space, there are now hundreds of near identical cenotaphs, each featuring the name and a picture of a victim.
—
Ivana Kottasová,
CNN,
7 Oct. 2024
Her bed has become her grave, a tomb beneath the ceiling of her room,
the ceiling a cenotaph.
—
Mosab Abu Toha,
The New Yorker,
30 Sep. 2024
See All Example Sentences for cenotaph
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cenotaph
Noun
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Over 100 mourners gathered last week around a memorial of flowers and photos to remember two young sisters slain by their father — another in a frustratingly long line of domestic violence tragedies.
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The memorial was installed in 2012 as a way to acknowledge — alongside a formal apology by the California State Legislature and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors — the history of Mexican and Mexican Americans who were forcefully removed from the United States during the Great Depression.
Noun
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But as the Lavra burned there was no sense that destroying a leading religious and cultural monument in a manner such as this was a war crime.
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Room, the former Columbus Crew goalkeeper, wanted Sweet 16 but would settle for a monument in his name.
Cite this Entry
“Cenotaph.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cenotaph. Accessed 29 Jun. 2026.
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