物故|ぶっこbukko[1]atamadaka (head-high)

1. noun, suru verb, intransitive verbdeath (of a person)

• Synonym死没しぼつWrittenWritten word for death as a matter of record, typical of chronologies such as 「死没年」; plain and factual in tone, adding no respect for the deceased.
• Synonym死亡しぼうNeutralNeutral, objective term for the end of life, common in everyday news, as in 「死亡事故」; it is plain and expresses no respect toward the deceased.
• Synonym死去しきょNeutralNeutral word for a person dying; a staple of news obituaries, and milder in tone than 「死亡」.
• Synonym没ぼつWrittenWritten form seen mainly in date notation like 「1900年没」; it is not used as a standalone word in everyday speech.
• Synonym逝去せいきょWrittenWritten term carrying respect for the deceased, typical of obituaries and memorial speeches.
• Synonym他界たかいWrittenA written euphemism suggesting the person has gone to the other world; softer and more indirect than 「物故」.
• Synonym死しNeutralThe neutral noun for death as a concept, as in 「死の恐怖」; it names the idea itself rather than reporting a person's passing.
• Synonym辞世じせいWrittenWritten word for departing this world, and also for a death poem written in one's final moments — a sense 「物故」 lacks.
• Synonym死ぬしぬCasualThe colloquial verb for dying, direct and not euphemistic; the everyday choice where 「物故」 would sound stiffly formal.
• Synonym亡くなるなくなるNeutralThe neutral, everyday polite verb for someone's death, chosen to avoid the bluntness of 「死ぬ」; the natural spoken alternative to 「物故」.
• Synonym往生おうじょうWrittenWritten Buddhist term for dying by being reborn in the Pure Land; it also means giving up or submitting, which 「物故」 does not.
• Synonym絶命ぜつめいWrittenWritten word for life ending — breathing one's last — whether from illness or injury; it stresses the moment of death rather than recording it.
• Synonym長逝ちょうせいFormalFormal and solemn, evoking a final, eternal departure; it carries a tone of mourning that the record-keeping 「物故」 lacks.
• Synonym落命らくめいWrittenWritten word for losing one's life in an accident or battle; unlike 「物故」 it points to how the person died.
• Synonym没するぼっするWrittenWritten verb covering both a person's death and, literally, the sun going down; broader in literal use than 「物故」.
• Synonym永眠えいみんWrittenWritten word for eternal rest, a staple of obituaries; it frames death as peaceful sleep rather than a recorded fact.
• Synonym事切れることきれるWrittenWritten verb for breathing one's last, used when narrating the moment of dying, as in deathbed scenes.
• Synonym失命しつめいWrittenA rare written word for losing one's life; blunter than 「物故」 and seldom seen.
• Synonym不帰ふきFormalFormal word for a departure from which one never returns; best known in the set phrase 「不帰の客となる」.
• Synonym身罷るみまかるWrittenArchaic written verb for leaving this world, met mainly in old waka and classical texts.
• Synonymこの世を去るこのよをさるWrittenA written phrase meaning to leave this world; a gentle, indirect way to speak of dying.
• Synonym死するしするWrittenLiterary verb for dying, as in 「死して名を残す」; its classical ring is harder-edged than 「物故」.
• Synonym世を去るよをさるWrittenWritten phrase for leaving the world, but it can also mean entering the priesthood or living in seclusion — a wider range than 「物故」.
• Synonym逝くいくWrittenPoetic written verb for passing away, at home in verse and elegies; more lyrical than 「物故」.
• Relatedへい死へいしWrittenWritten word for dying collapsed on the ground — falling down dead; it is also commonly used of animals.
• Antonym生存せいぞんNeutralNeutral antonym: to live and exist. It stands opposite 「物故」, which marks a person as already deceased.
• Antonym存命ぞんめいWrittenWritten antonym meaning still alive; used of the living in contrast to the deceased, as 「物故」 records them.

「物故」 is a written, Sino-Japanese word for a person's death, used mainly in records and lists such as 「物故者」 and 「会員の物故」. For news reports use 「死去」 or 「死亡」; to show respect, 「逝去」; in everyday speech, 「亡くなる」 or the blunt 「死ぬ」. Among the rest: 「没」 marks dates, 「落命」 deaths in accidents or battle, 「永眠」 and 「長逝」 solemn notices, 「辞世」 death poems, 「往生」 the Buddhist sense; 「生存」 and 「存命」 are the antonyms.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

1. 人ひとが死しぬこと。死去しきょ。「人ひとの死し」の婉曲えんきょく的てき・漢語かんご的てき表現ひょうげん。