obituary

Everyday

1. A piece of writing in a newspaper or website, after someone has died, telling about their life and what they did. tree →
2. (informal) A short notice that someone has died. tree →

In the lessons

In everyday life newspapers print obituaries of famous people and local people; families may write one. In English lessons, it is a non-fiction text type about a life. It tells the reader the person has died (polite, formal style). Phrases: write an obituary, read the obituaries, an obituary in the paper.

Examples

• Grandma's obituary was printed in the local paper. tree →
• The obituary told about his life as a fisherman. tree →
• She read the obituaries every morning. tree →
• The famous singer's obituary was on the news website. tree →
• We wrote an obituary for our class goldfish. tree →
• An obituary usually lists the person's family. tree →

Note

Countable: obituaries (y to ies). Starts with a vowel sound, so «an obituary». Informal short form: obit. Related to the polite way of talking about death: «passed away».