pay one's respects

verb

To grieve or mourn a person to a degree appropriate for one's relationship; to attend someone's funeral.

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Meanings

verbpay one's respects (third-person singular simple present pays one's respects, present participle paying one's respects, simple past and past participle paid one's respects)

present singular third person pays one's respects · participle present paying one's respects · participle past paid one's respects · past paid one's respects

  1. To grieve or mourn a person to a degree appropriate for one's relationship; to attend someone's funeral.

    Mr. Bruni told journalists that, as of Monday evening, Pope Francis' closest collaborators have begun to pay their respects to the late Pope.

    2025 April 21, Devin Watkins, “Pope Francis has died on Easter Monday aged 88”, in Vatican News

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 致以敬意, 致敬
  • 致以敬意 (zhìyǐ jìngyì)grieve or mourn
  • 致敬 (zhìjìng)grieve or mourn
Finnish osoittaa kunnioitustaan, esittää osanottonsa
  • osoittaa kunnioitustaangrieve or mourn
  • esittää osanottonsagrieve or mourn
Polish oddawać hołd, oddać hołd
  • oddawać hołdgrieve or mourn
  • oddać hołdgrieve or mourn
Cite this entry
APA

pay one's respects. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pay%20one's%20respects

MLA

“pay one's respects.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pay%20one's%20respects. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pay one's respects,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pay%20one's%20respects.

Source: pay one's respects on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.