GRAVES Synonyms: 78 Similar and Opposite Words

graves 1 of 2

noun

Definition of graves next

plural of grave

as in tombs

a final resting place for a dead person the forlorn boy put flowers on his mother's grave

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

as in deaths

the permanent stopping of all the vital bodily activities a rock star who found his early grave in a plane crash

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

graves

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of grave

as in etches

to cut (as letters or designs) on a hard surface the doomed climber graved his initials into the rock face

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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 graves

Noun

The text card at the close of the episode notes that between 1980 and 1988, more than 200,000 Iranians were killed during the war, while over 15,000 Iranian political prisoners were executed and buried in mass graves. —

Alissa Simon, Variety, 16 May 2026 Here Mina and her friend Lucy Westenra sit among the graves, sketching and talking, later, watching clouds gather for the storm that would bring the Demeter, and Count Dracula, to Whitby. —

Culture Critic, Los Angeles Times, 14 May 2026 Decoration Day was first observed as a national holiday, honoring those who had died in military service during the Civil War, often by decorating their graves with flowers. —

USA Today, 13 May 2026 Legend has it that these relics are the remains of martyrs from the early days of Christianity in Rome that were discovered in the 16th century in unmarked graves in the city's catacombs. —

ABC News, 8 May 2026 When the initial discovery of the necropolis was announced in March, Josip Romić, the mayor of Vinkovci, said the graves are believed to be from the 2nd or 3rd centuries CE. —

Leigh Anne Miller, ARTnews.com, 8 May 2026 New graves for bags of bones At the end of the search, family members and rescue workers recite prayers, standing behind 50 white body bags laid out in the dirt. —

Anas Baba, NPR, 6 May 2026 If Bruce Springsteen’s greatest gift was mythologizing the existential open graves swallowing up blue-collar workers, Mellencamp’s was his piercing ability to at once celebrate and dismantle agrarian fantasy. —

Literary Hub, 29 Apr. 2026 These later burials are called row-grave cemeteries because the graves were perfectly parallel to one another. —

Emma Gometz, Scientific American, 29 Apr. 2026

Verb

Las acciones de Google son especialmente insensibles y graves ante el cierre administrativo temporal del gobierno (shutdown), ignorando las peticiones de funcionarios gubernamentales y organizaciones hispanas que les solicitaron mantener la programación de Univision en el paquete principal. —

Todd Spangler, Variety, 1 Oct. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for graves

Noun

Hue, Vietnam Ornate palaces, pavilions, statues and royal tombs are waiting to be explored in Hue.

— Catherine Garcia, TheWeek, 13 May 2026
Picture Indiana Jones swapping his fedora for a Han dynasty helmet, dodging booby traps in dusty Chinese tombs.

— Urnesha Bhattacherjee, Encyclopedia Britannica, 27 Apr. 2026