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sarcophagi

noun

variants also sarcophaguses
plural of sarcophagus
as in coffins
a boxlike container for holding a dead body the crypt under the abbey church contains the sarcophagus of the monastery's founding abbot

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for sarcophagi
  1. coffins
  2. caskets
  3. tombs
Noun
  • Those beliefs have long shaped the role of traditional coffins in Chinese funeral customs.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 17 Sep. 2026
  • After the church service, the crowd climbed up a steep hill and followed the hearses transporting the coffins to a nearby cemetery.
    — Evens Sanon, Los Angeles Times, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of coffins
Noun
  • Iranian state media showed throngs of people gathered at Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla, a large prayer complex in Tehran, visiting the family's caskets.
    — Hadeel Al-Shalchi, NPR, 6 July 2026
  • The caskets of his dead family members sat beneath Khamenei's, which had his black turban atop it, identifying him as a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad.
    — NASSER KARIMI, Arkansas Online, 5 July 2026
Definition of caskets
Noun
  • Back then, the town was a rural, rapidly industrializing fringe of Hangzhou with a largely undeveloped archaeological site that featured Neolithic tombs and settlements buried deep beneath farmland.
    — Afra Wang, New Yorker, 23 Sep. 2026
  • Their findings suggest that these tombs were intended not simply to house the dead but to affect the living through an immersive environment.
    — Anne Doran, ARTnews.com, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of tombs
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

sarcastic
sarcophagi
sarcophagus
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Cite this Entry

“Sarcophagi.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sarcophagi. Accessed 25 Sep. 2026.

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