With more than 10 million obituaries in Legacy.com’s database, we’ve read just about every death euphemism you can imagine. While approximately 6.5 million of Legacy.com’s obituaries indicate that someone has “died, ” more than 5 million use the term “passed away” (far and away the most popular death euphemism on our site).
Whether they are hobby-related (“gone fishing”) Shakespearean (“shuffled off this mortal coil”), or intended to bring a smile (“cashed in her chips”), I find people’s choices of death euphemisms fascinating. As an avid baker, my all-time favorite is: “baked her last coconut cream pie and hung up her apron.”
If you’re looking for a gentler way to say someone has died, try one of these options from our top 10 list of death euphemisms:
- Passed away
- Went to be with (the/his/her) Lord
- Went home
- Departed
- Entered eternal rest
- Was called home
- Left this world
- Succumbed
- Lost his/her battle
- Slipped away
And if you’re in need of a smile, check out the collection of euphemisms in Leonard L. Lachendro’s obituary, as published in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
