undertaker

noun

ˈən-dər-ˌtā-kər How to pronounce undertaker (audio)
Definition of undertakernext
as in funeral director
a person who manages funerals and prepares the dead for burial or cremation the undertaker wore black clothes and a solemn expression

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of undertaker Journalists who just a year or two before had reported on the collapse in the grim tones of an undertaker now rushed to write a happy story. — Literary Hub, 15 July 2026 Though there were initial reports that Mansfield was decapitated in the accident, her undertaker, Jim Roberts, later revealed that that was untrue. — Lynsey Eidell, PEOPLE, 19 June 2026 In the 19th century, English undertaker William Banting promoted a low-carbohydrate eating plan for weight loss. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 10 June 2026 No caveats or asterisks for the team that’s become the NBA’s grave-digging undertaker. — Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 4 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for undertaker
Recent Examples of Synonyms for undertaker
  1. funeral director
  2. mortician
Noun
  • At the first roundtable, with a sly tap on the shoulder, Cumming chose Tomica Adams (a pilot from Boston, MA) and Joe Vanella (a funeral director from Wantagh, New York) as his first Traitors of the season.
    — Hunter Ingram, Variety, 18 Sep. 2026
  • The boards’ focus spans healthcare fields and related industries, overseeing the licensing of physicians, dentists, long-term care facility administrators, psychologists, morticians and funeral directors.
    — Danielle J. Brown, Baltimore Sun, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of funeral director
Noun
  • The boards’ focus spans healthcare fields and related industries, overseeing the licensing of physicians, dentists, long-term care facility administrators, psychologists, morticians and funeral directors.
    — Danielle J. Brown, Baltimore Sun, 15 Sep. 2026
  • In Stuffed, Comer portrays a mortician and taxidermist who comes together with Melling’s character Bernie, a lonely factory worker.
    — Tommy McArdle, PEOPLE, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of mortician

Browse Nearby Words

undertaken
undertaker
undertakers
See all Nearby Words

Podcast

Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP

Cite this Entry

“Undertaker.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/undertaker. Accessed 2 Oct. 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 heterodox

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

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

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

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Oct. 2

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List
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
name tags
Words Named After People Quiz Find out who’s behind "leotard," "morphine," an...
See All