1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

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

Relevance

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for sarcophagi
  1. coffins
  2. caskets
  3. tombs
Noun
  • But the situation is far more tragic, with videos on social media showing dozens of coffins lined up beside mass graves, awaiting burial before the bodies decompose in the heat.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 3 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
  • 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
  • More recently, cosmic rays have helped geologists see hidden chambers of active volcanoes, and archaeologists use them to reveal hidden tombs in ancient Egyptian pyramids.
    — Jesse Liu, The Conversation, 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
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Sarcophagi.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sarcophagi. Accessed 18 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of churlish

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 18
See More

Popular

See More

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
crayons-in-a-circle
Guess the Color Quiz Questions that use the whole box of crayons.
See All