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Ceased vs Deceased - What's the difference?

ceased | deceased |

As a verb ceased

is (cease).

As an adjective deceased is

no longer alive.

As a noun deceased is

a dead person.

ceased

English

Verb

(head)
  • (cease)

    • cease

    English

    Verb

    (ceas)
  • (formal) To stop.
    • And with that, his twitching ceased .
  • (formal) To stop doing (something).
    • And with that, he ceased twitching.
  • (obsolete) To be wanting; to fail; to pass away.
  • * Bible, Deuteronomy xv. 11
    • The poor shall never cease out of the land.

    deceased

    English

    Adjective

    (-)
  • No longer alive
  • * That parrot is definitely deceased , and when I purchased it not ’alf an hour ago, you assured me that its total lack of movement was due to it bein’ tired and shagged out following a prolonged squawk. Monty Python
  • Belonging to the dead.
  • * The executor’s commission for winding up the deceased estate was 3.5%.
  • (legal): One who has died. In property law', the alternate term decedent is generally used. In ' criminal law , “the deceased” refers to the victim of a homicide.

    • Synonyms

    * (no longer alive) asleep, at peace, at rest, dead, departed, late, gone

    Usage notes

    * Not to be confused with diseased (affected with or suffering from disease)

    Noun

    (deceased)
  • A dead person
  • * The deceased was interred in his local churchyard.
  • (plural deceased ) dead people
  • * A memorial to the deceased of two World Wars.
  • (legal): One who has died. In property law', the alternate term decedent is generally used. In ' criminal law , “the deceased” refers to the victim of a homicide.

    • Synonyms

    * (dead person) dead person, dead soul, deceased person, decedent, departed, late * dead people, dead souls, deceased people, decedents, departed

    Usage notes

    Deceased'' is commonly used in legal and journalistic settings. ''Departed is most commonly used in religious settings.