Synonyms for ceremony
Most common
Definitions
- n. 1
A ritual, with religious or cultural significance.
Related words
- Word family
- ceremonial ceremonialism ceremonially ceremonious ceremoniously
- Phrases
- tea ceremony initiation ceremony
- Other spellings
- caeremony caerimony cerimony cæremony cærimony
Forms
- Plural
- ceremonys → ceremonials, observances, rites, solemnities…
Choose the right word
Ceremony is a form expressing reverence, or at least respect; we may speak of religious ceremonies, the ceremonies of polite society, the ceremonies of a coronation, an inauguration, etc.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- rite Naming his son after himself felt like a rite of passage.
- ceremonial Dressed in ceremonial garb, he began the ritual.
- observance It is a custom more honored in the breach than the observance.
- pageant Sami's girlfriend entered into a beauty pageant.
- pomp Buckingham Palace is a symbol of pomp and ceremony.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| ceremony | rising | |
| rite | rising | |
| ceremonial | steady | |
| observance | falling | |
| solemnity | steady | |
| pageant | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- form1, rite1, pomp1
- 5 letters
- forme
- 7 letters
- service2, display2, formula3, pageant2
- 9 letters
- ordinance3, sacrament3, formality4, solemnity4
- 10 letters
- ceremonial5, observance3
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (service2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- cérémonie
- Deutsch
- Feierlichkeit
- Català
- cerimònia