Synonyms of die in Chinese

In Chinese, there are diverse terms to express “die”. Here are all the synonyms of die in Chinese.

Different terms for “death” are used according to different social classes (in old times e.g an emperor dies 驾崩 jià bēng), sex (A beauty passes away 香消玉殒 xiānɡ xiāo yù yǔn), age (die young 英年早逝 yīnɡ nián zǎo shì), places （die in a place other than one’s hometown or in a foreign country 客死 kè sǐ), causes (die a martyr’s/a hero’s death 英勇就义 yīng yǒng jiù yì), etc and also different terms are used depending on the occasion (formal, informal), intentions of the speaker (to express sadness 表达哀伤 or take pleasure in other people’s death 幸灾乐祸), and so on…

You must be feeling dazzled, seeing so many words for death.  Don’t worry! A native chinese don’t even know many of these words, not to say all of them. Which are the commonest terms for death? “死” and ”去世” are the commonest for “death”. “死” is informal and kind of impolite if you say it directly to someone who suffered from the death of a family member, relative, or friend. “去世” is the safest way to express “death”, which is a formal and polite form. Most of the rest in the list are just used in literature or very formal occasions.

死、亡、故、卒、弱、逝、殁、殪、毙、殂、徂、殒、薨、死亡、丧亡、亡故、身故、物故、物化、去世、逝世、弃世、过世、下世、就世、谢世、凋谢、死灭、毙命、毕命、殒命、殒灭、捐背、捐馆、殂落、徂落、殂谢、徂谢、迁化、怛化、疾终、长逝、永诀、永别、永眠、长眠、就木、故去、溘逝、溘死、断气、咽气、合眼、闭眼、没了、挺腿、完蛋、呜呼、回老家、玩儿完、翘辫子、上西天、见阎王、登鬼录、填沟壑、粉身碎骨、见马克思、与世长辞、溘然长逝、寿终正寝、命赴黄泉、呜呼哀哉、一命呜呼、天夺其魄、仙逝、仙游、千古、作古、归西、归天、大故、不在、过去、

不禄、不讳、不可讳、跨鹤西游、千秋之后、百年之合、三长两短、山高水低、见背、弃养、 牺牲、舍身、献身、就义、捐躯、捐生、殉职、殉国、殉难、殉节、殉、效死、效命、授命、阵亡、成仁、杀身成仁、舍生取义、以身许国、马革裹尸、肝脑（胆）涂地、横死、强死、凶死、丧命、送命、毙命、暴卒、倒头、死于非命 、饿死、殣、升天、涅盘、坐化、羽化、鹤化、物化、圆寂、归寂、示寂、入寂、入灭、灭度、示灭、尸解 、崩、驾崩、山陵崩、晏驾、升遐、登遐、宾天、大行、千秋万岁、夭折、夭亡、短折、早世、早逝、早死、中殇、殇、兰摧玉折、玉楼赴召、玉楼修记、地下修文 、葬玉埋香、玉殒香消、香消玉殒、客死、瘐死