as in monuments
a shaped stone laid over or erected near a grave and usually bearing an inscription to identify and preserve the memory of the deceased
the historic cemetery's many tombstones marking the graves of children are telling reminders of the harshness of pioneer life
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Recent Examples of tombstones
In 1975, the museum purchased his work Georgia Gate, a structure of fluidly bent pine staves inspired by photos of Georgia tombstones the artist saw in musicologist Marshall Stearns’s 1970 book The Story of Jazz.
—
News Desk, Artforum, 8 Mar. 2026
Last year, the City Council approved an ordinance to offer rewards for information involving theft of city plaques, tombstones, statues, light standards, and copper wire, and theft of metals linked to the Sixth Street Bridge.
—City News Service, Daily News, 18 Feb. 2026
By day the place was filled with different sorts of tombstones, many of them inside ornamental enclosures.
—Literary Hub, 13 Feb. 2026
People used to come to my hotel and leave tombstones and pictures of dead babies.
—Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 11 Feb. 2026
Their names are listed in the African American Museum’s exhibit, but not at the cemetery as there are no tombstones left there – except for a few.
—Dallas Morning News, 31 Jan. 2026
Additional excavations could bring answers, Frame communicated, with the team hoping to find alters — tombstones frequently included the units soldiers belonged to.
—Jaden Thompson, Footwear News, 6 Jan. 2026
Concrete beams standing in the dirt like tall tombstones.
—Daniel Estrin, NPR, 7 Nov. 2025
After days of cleaning graves and decorating tombstones, the graveyard is awash in color and flickering candles.
—Rocío Muñoz-Ledo, CNN Money, 3 Nov. 2025
News Desk, Artforum, 8 Mar. 2026
Last year, the City Council approved an ordinance to offer rewards for information involving theft of city plaques, tombstones, statues, light standards, and copper wire, and theft of metals linked to the Sixth Street Bridge.
—City News Service, Daily News, 18 Feb. 2026
By day the place was filled with different sorts of tombstones, many of them inside ornamental enclosures.
—Literary Hub, 13 Feb. 2026
People used to come to my hotel and leave tombstones and pictures of dead babies.
—Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 11 Feb. 2026
Their names are listed in the African American Museum’s exhibit, but not at the cemetery as there are no tombstones left there – except for a few.
—Dallas Morning News, 31 Jan. 2026
Additional excavations could bring answers, Frame communicated, with the team hoping to find alters — tombstones frequently included the units soldiers belonged to.
—Jaden Thompson, Footwear News, 6 Jan. 2026
Concrete beams standing in the dirt like tall tombstones.
—Daniel Estrin, NPR, 7 Nov. 2025
After days of cleaning graves and decorating tombstones, the graveyard is awash in color and flickering candles.
—Rocío Muñoz-Ledo, CNN Money, 3 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tombstones
Noun
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Last month, Pogačar won Milan-San Remo, leaving only Roubaix to complete the set of five monuments in one-day cycling along with the Tour of Flanders, Liège–Bastogne–Liège and the Tour of Lombardy.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
12 Apr. 2026
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Trump has said that major cities around the world have such monuments, and Washington is the only one without one.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Unlike the blue plaques affixed to residences in London, which indicate where notable figures once lived, or the Stolpersteine (or stumbling stones) embedded in the sidewalks of German cities to mark the former homes of Holocaust victims, Bucharest’s red disks are not commemorative but predictive.—
Rebecca Mead,
New Yorker,
13 Apr. 2026
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The Secret Garden necklace, inlaid with onyx, also includes a smattering of smaller diamond, emerald, and purple sapphire stones.—
Hannah Malach,
InStyle,
13 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Dozens of Irish names can also be found on gravestones in the town cemetery.—
John Lauritsen,
CBS News,
12 Mar. 2026
-
Many gravestones were broken and lay crumbled on the ground.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
13 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The alleged thieves ripped bronze plaques and grave markers from headstones and walls of the cemetery's mausoleum.—
Dean Fioresi,
CBS News,
18 Mar. 2026
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There were previously more headstones before a 1940s landowner had many of them hauled away into the swamp.—
Patrick Connolly,
The Orlando Sentinel,
18 Mar. 2026
Noun
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When activated, those cells begin clearing away existing amyloid plaques, a process that was associated with reduced plaque buildup and improved cognitive function, the study found.—
Kelly McGreal,
FOXNews.com,
3 Feb. 2026
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And in mice with more advanced conditions, with unstable plaques that are more likely to rupture, treatment reduced the plaque size by 52%.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
26 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tombstones.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tombstones. Accessed 15 Apr. 2026.
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