corpse
Mortal remains here
A corpse is a dead body, especially a human one.
The word carries a clinical or literary tone—news reports prefer body, while corpse appears in crime fiction, horror, and formal contexts.
In theater slang, to corpse is to break character by laughing uncontrollably during a performance.
Body for dissection
- remainsContinues in place
- bodyPhysical structure, living thing
- carcassSlaughtered animal's body
- fleshSoft body matter
bones · tissue · rigor mortis · lividity · pallor · stiff · lifeless · cold
Placing deceased underground
- funeralService honoring the dead
- coffinBurial container for remains
- casketBurial container
- embalmingPreserving dead bodies chemically
cremation · shroud · wake · mortician · undertaker · viewing · pallbearer · hearse
Medical examination after death
- morgueCorpse holding facility
- coronerPublic death investigator
- post-mortemAnalysis after conclusion
- toxicologyScience of poisons
forensics · examination · cause of death · medical examiner · identification · time of death · evidence · crime scene
Putrefying animal remains
- carcassSlaughtered animal's body
- scavengerSeeker of refuse
- vultureCarrion-eating raptor
- predatorOrganism that consumes others
roadkill · bones · hyena · crow · maggots · decomposer · beetle · buzzard
Gradual organic breakdown
- putrefactionBacterial breakdown of tissue
- rotOrganic breakdown process
- decompositionBreakdown into simpler parts
- bloatingSwollen, expanded state
necrosis · maggots · odor · discoloration · skeletonization · mummification · autolysis · bacteria
cadaver
Body for dissection
flesh · bones · tissue · rigor mortis · lividity · pallor · stiff · lifeless · cold · skin
burial
Placing deceased underground
embalming · cremation · shroud · wake · mortician · undertaker · viewing · pallbearer · hearse · grave
autopsy
Medical examination after death
- morgueCorpse holding facility
- coronerPublic death investigator
- post-mortemAnalysis after conclusion
toxicology · forensics · examination · cause of death · medical examiner · identification · time of death · evidence · crime scene · exhumation
carrion
Putrefying animal remains
predator · roadkill · bones · hyena · crow · maggots · decomposer · beetle · buzzard
decay
Gradual organic breakdown
- putrefactionBacterial breakdown of tissue
- rotOrganic breakdown process
- decompositionBreakdown into simpler parts
bloating · necrosis · maggots · odor · discoloration · skeletonization · mummification · autolysis · bacteria · carrion
prop
Support or stage item
horror · stage · fake blood · effects · Halloween · haunted house · zombie · ghoul
- Zombieszombie, zombies, undead, walkers, walker
- Gothic horrorghost story, haunted houses, Dracula, vampires, Frankenstein
- death carefuneral, burial, cremation, casket, coffin
- literary deathdeath scene, deathbed, dying, funeral, grave
- medieval deathdanse macabre, dance of death, memento mori, Black Death, Last Judgment
- abjectionabjection, disgust, revulsion, repulsion, loathing
corpseliving being
Organism that's alive
alive · survivor · patient · quick · sentient being
- esprit de corpsShared pride among members
- volunteer corpsOrganized group of unpaid workers
- nonprofit corporationEntity barred from distributing surplus
- Marine CorpsSea-land combat branch
- corporal punishmentInflicting pain as penalty
- Peace CorpsFederal volunteer service abroad
corporation, incorporate, corps, corporeal, corporal, incorporation, corpses, incorporated, corpus