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Funereal

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(pronounced fyoo-neer-ee-ul, with the second syllable rhyming with the word "beer")  adjective

Definition

1. of or relating to a funeral.  2. appropriate for a funeral; mournful; grave and gloomy; dreary; solemn.

Other Forms

Funereally  (pronounced fyoo-neer-ee-uh-lee)  adverb  

Main Example

• Even in cities that are particularly hard-hit by the mortgage crisis, home prices in some neighborhoods--especially those near city centers or close to public transit--are remaining stable, if not showing an increase. Thanks to the high cost of gas and an increasing awareness of the opportunity cost of one's time, the longer the driving commute time from a neighborhood, the greater the plunge in home prices and more funereal the atmosphere there.

Workplace Examples

• I'm really glad they've made Jill head of public relations. In contrast to her predecessor, who was always funereal, Jill's personality and presentation style are a perfect match for the job. Everything about her is so positive.
• Mel, why are you dressing up so funereally? Don't you realize we are going to a celebration? For heaven's sake, put on something bright.

Other Examples

• on entering a meeting room and noticing everybody's glum expression, the manager asking: "Why is everybody looking so funereal?"
• somebody going about an activity funereally because he or she believes it to be a pointless task; the mood in a company becoming funereal following widespread layoffs
• because of the indescribably difficult living conditions in Zimbabwe, where the current inflation rate exceeds 100,000%, visitors finding the people of that unfortunate nation to be a lot more morose and funereal than was the case just a couple of years ago
• in Beethoven's "Eroica Symphony," the funereal strains of the second movement which the composer later called "a foreboding of the death of my hero"

© 2008 V.J. Singal

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