returned to dust
Decayed to nothing
Returned to dust describes something that has decayed, disintegrated, or died—reverting to the earth from which it came.
The phrase echoes the biblical "dust to dust," invoking mortality and the physical breakdown of bodies after death.
It applies literally to corpses and figuratively to anything that has crumbled away or ceased to exist: The ancient temple has long since returned to dust.
- ashesBurned matter's residue
- decayGradual organic breakdown
- mortalityState of eventual death
- mortal coilTurmoil of human existence
- graveSerious and worrying
six feet under · earth · crumble · decompose · burial · laid to rest · bones · remains · scattered · forgotten · ephemeral · transient · corpse · soil · tomb · disintegrate · vanish · wither
returned to dustmummified
Preserved by desiccation
preserved · embalmed · fossilized · cryopreserved · incorruptible
returned to dustimmortalized
Made permanently remembered
eternalized · imperishable · eternal · memorialized · enshrined
returned to dustalive and well
Existing and healthy
living · thriving · resurrected · risen from the dead · reborn
return, returned, returning, returns, returnable, returnee, turn, turns, turned