20+ Differences between Eulogy and Obituary (Explained)

The death of a loved one takes a toll on the whole family. Therefore, you want to ensure you give the deceased person all the due respect and love. One can do so by making a Eulogy and Obituary to accomplish this.

The significant difference between a Eulogy and an Obituary is that the former is a speech given in oral at the funeral stating how lovely and unique the deceased person was. At the same time, the latter is written information stating the person’s death. 

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Key Differences

Eulogy

• It can be best described as an oral speech that is given life during the deceased person’s funeral. The prime purpose of this speech is to admire the dead person and tell how amazing and lovely they are. 

• Since it focuses on admiring the deceased person, it is considered very personal and informal compared to Obituary. 

• It contains more details about the deceased person than an Obituary does. 

• It is not published in a newspaper or online like an Obituary. It is given at the very moment during the funeral. 

• When a person is delivering a Eulogy, there typically is no limit on the word count. However, there is usually a barrier to the number of minutes. On average, it should not last more than ten or fifteen minutes. 

Obituary

• It can be best described as a piece of written information that is published on various platforms that states the death of the deceased person. The prime purpose of this speech is to tell the family, friends, and relatives how and when the concerned person has died. 

• It is only associated with telling people about the death of a person. Thus, it is considered less personal and formal in comparison with Eulogy. 

• It does not contain many details about the deceased person. It only has very formal information about the concerned person. 

• The trademark feature of this piece of information is that it gets published on various platforms. Primarily, it gets published in newspapers, but with the rapid growth of the internet over the decades, people have started to publish this online, such as on various social media platforms. 

• When the Obituary is printed in a newspaper, there typically is a word limit as they charge you per the word limit. However, there is not any word limit when publishing online. But since it is associated with fewer details, it generally does not exceed 500 words. 

Comparison Between An Eulogy And An Obituary

Parameter	Eulogy	Obituary
Meaning and Purpose	It refers to an oral speech from family members, friends, and relatives at the time of the deceased person’s funeral. The only purpose of this speech is to admire the deceased person with great love and respect in the form of telling about the concerned person’s life story and memorable things.	It refers to a written document given by a family member, close friend, or relative before the funeral by publishing it on various platforms. The sole purpose of this document is to inform the people about the death of the deceased person by telling how and when the person died and what the funeral arrangements are.
For whom	It comes into place when a person dies. But it is not mandatory to make it only when someone dies. It can be made even if the person is alive and someone needs to tell someone’s life story.	It only comes into play when someone dies. It can not be made for someone who is alive.
Types	It can be broadly categorized into three supreme types: Personal, Specialized, and Biographical.	There are not any types of these documents.
Format	This speech usually begins with the person or the author telling everyone in what relations that person knew the deceased person. After doing that, they tell the people how they admired the deceased person and what they learned from the deceased person. Lastly, they inform everyone about the remarkable and memorable moments they spent with them.	This document begins by informing everyone about the deceased person’s name, age, gender, and date of death and what led to their death of them. Nextly, it tells a bit of information about the deceased person’s background in life, such as accomplishments and family. It finally ends with the schedule of the funeral arrangements.
Usage	This speech is always used during a funeral. It is neither used before the funeral nor after the funeral.	This document is always used before the funeral. It is never used during the funeral.
Who makes it	It is made by various family members, friends, and relatives. This is because everyone who knows the deceased person wants to admire them by showing great love and respect. And these speeches are one way of doing so.	It is made by a single or couple of family friends, friends, or relatives. This is because this document only holds formal details and nothing personal about the deceased person.
Details, formality, tone	Since these speeches convey the personal messages of someone for the deceased person, these speeches are full of details. When people address their messages that are full of personal feelings, then it happens in a very informal way in a typically positive and uplifting manner.	Since these documents only display the relevant details regarding the deceased person’s death and funeral, these documents are considered very formal and less detailed. When making these documents, they use the words formally and straightforwardly.
Limit	There generally is no limit when it comes to word limit in these speeches as these are very personal and can be very wordy. However, it should be noted that most people like to keep these speeches within 10 to 15 minutes of the timeframe.	There is usually a limit on the word count when people get these documents published in the newspaper. But when posting online, there is not any word limits. But since these documents are not considered personal and detailed, people like to keep them within 500 words.
Includes	Certain things like why you admired the deceased person, what were some of the memorable moments you spent with them, what were some of the life lessons that you learned from them, what was remarkable about them, what did they inspire you about, what was their life story, etc. are the main parts of these speeches.	Things like when and how the deceased person died and where and when the funeral ceremony would occur are this document’s main parts.

Major Differences Between A Eulogy And An Obituary

What Exactly Is a Eulogy? 

A Eulogy refers to a speech that is given during a funeral. The primary characteristic of this speech is that it describes how loving and amazing the deceased person was. People sharing a Eulogy also describe their favorite memory or a moment of the dead person.

However, the primary purpose of this speech is to admire the deceased person with all due respect and love. Oral speech; less personal and details; given by close family, friends, and relatives are the notable features of this speech. 

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Key features of Eulogy

• It is an oral speech that is given by various family, friends, and relatives during the deceased person’s funeral. 

• Its primary purpose is to admire the deceased person with due respect and love. It includes various people telling several stories and memorable memories of the concerned person. 

• It includes many details of the concerned person and is considered very personal. These details may consist of funny moments, life lessons, remarkable moments spent by someone with the deceased person, etc. 

• It is not published anywhere, such as in newspapers or online. It is only given at the time of the funeral. 

• Typically, there is not any foundation on the number of people, but it generally is within 10 to 15 minutes of time. 

What Exactly Is an Obituary? 

An Obituary is a written document published on various platforms such as newspapers and online sites. The prime purpose of this document is to state the deceased person’s death to family, friends, relatives, and neighbors.

It is only concerned with telling how and when the deceased person died. It is a very formal description, considered less personal and less detailed. One of the critical features of this is that it is always made to get published in newspapers or online platforms and never given during the funeral. 

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Key Features of Obituary 

• It is a written document made by a single close family or friend and then published on various platforms such as newspapers and online sites. 

• Its main purpose is to state the information relating to the deceased person’s death, such as how and when the deceased person died, accompanied by the details of the funeral ceremony. 

• It does not include many details about the deceased person. Instead, it is considered a very formal piece of information. And, thus not considered very personal either. 

• When it has to be published in newspapers, there is generally some word limit imposed on it. But when it gets published over social media platforms, there is no foundation of the number of words. However, it mainly comes under the limit of 500 words. 

Contrast Between A Eulogy And An Obituary

Origin of The Word

• Eulogy – The term Eulogy originated from two different languages. It originated from the Greek word “pilgrim” and from the Latin word “eulogy,” which means “good language or praise.” 

• Obituary – The term Obituary originated from the Medieval Latin word “obituaries,” which originated from another Latin word, “obtuse,” which means “death.” Obitus originated from another Latin word, “obit,” which means “perished.” Obit originated from another Latin word, “mobile.” 

Meaning And Purpose

• Eulogy refers to an oral speech from close family, friends, and relatives about the deceased person during the funeral. Its sole purpose is to admire the deceased person with respect and love by means of telling how lovely the person was and the remarkable moments spent with him. 

• Obituary refers to a written document made by a close family member, friend, or relative about the information relating to the deceased person’s death. Its sole purpose is to inform people about how and when the person died and the status of the funeral ceremony. 

For Whom

• Eulogy – While these speeches are primarily made for deceased persons, these can also be made for living people. There is no restriction on that as it only concerns telling everyone about a person’s life or the fantastic things about him. 

• Obituary – This document is always made for the deceased person. It can not be made for a living person. 

Types

• A Eulogy– can be broadly categorized into personal, specialized, and biographical. The personal type of this speech is associated with telling personal things about your bond with the deceased person. This may include some sweet memories you had with them or the moments you spent with them. The specialized type of this speech is associated with describing things that were very special to the deceased person. At last, the biographical type of this speech is concerned with telling the deceased person’s life story. 

• Obituary – There are not any types of this document. 

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Types of Eulogy

• Personal Eulogy: This type of Eulogy is associated with one’s as well as others’ personal feelings about the person who has departed. In this Eulogy, a person tells the people all his memories of the person who died. It can also include the personal feelings or memories of others about the person who has died. 
• Specialized Eulogy: This type of Eulogy is concerned with portraying something considered very important and unique to the person who died. It could be anything, such as a song, movie, religion, hobby, etc. 
• Biographical Eulogy: As the name suggests, this type of Eulogy is associated with telling people about the life the person who has died had. One could portray the life events that happened in the deceased person’s life in chronological order and can tell the people why the person was the person he was.  

Format

• Eulogy – This speech usually begins with the person or the author telling everyone in what relations they knew the deceased person. After doing that, they tell the people how they admired the deceased person and what they learned from the deceased person. Lastly, they inform everyone about the remarkable and memorable moments they spent with them. 

• Obituary – This document begins by informing everyone about the deceased person’s name, age, gender, and date of death and what led to their death of them. Nextly, it tells a little information about the deceased person’s background in life, such as accomplishments and family. It finally ends with the schedule of the funeral arrangements. 

Usage

• Eulogy – The central feature of this speech that helps distinguish it from an Obituary is that it is always used during the funeral. It is not used pre-funeral or post-funeral. 

• Obituary – The notable feature of this document is that it is never used during a funeral. It is always used before a funeral takes place. This document is usually addressed in various newspapers and online sites such as multiple social media platforms. 

Who Makes It

• Eulogy – Any number of family members, friends, or relatives can give this speech. There is no foundation for that, as different people have different experiences with deceased people, and it is their way of admiring the deceased person. 

• Obituary – This document is primarily made by only a family member, close friend, or relative. It is not made by many people but rather by a single person. The reason behind this is that this document only focuses on giving the relevant information to the people, and that can be done by any of the people and does not require many people. 

Details, Formality, Tone

• Eulogy – Since this speech includes the details of a person’s moments spent with the deceased person and elaboration of life lessons, funny moments, and life story, thus, it is considered very detailed, informal, and personal. The person who addresses the speech generally makes the speech in a very positive and uplifting manner or tone. 

• Obituary – Since this document is only concerned with stating the relevant information regarding the deceased person’s death, and nothing personal. Thus, this piece of information is considered less detailed and very formal. However, the person who addresses this document generally makes this very formal and straightforward. 

Limit

• Eulogy – There is generally no word limit whenever a person makes this speech. It is generally a long speech as a person addresses memorable moments spent with the deceased person and tells about his life. Although, these speeches usually last between ten to fifteen minutes. 

• Obituary – Since these documents are generally published in newspapers, there typically is a foundation on the word limit, as the newspaper agencies charge as per the word count. However, there is not any foundation on word count when publishing online. But at the same time, this document is not meant to be very detailed. Thus, many people like to keep it very formal. On average, it should not be more than 500 words. 

Includes

• Eulogy – This speech usually includes why you admired the deceased person, what were some of the memorable moments you spent with them, what were some of the life lessons that you learned from them, what was remarkable about them, what did they inspire you about, what was their life story, etc. 

• Obituary – This document mainly includes when and how the deceased person died and where and when the funeral ceremony would occur. 

CONCLUSION

Most people get confused when they hear the terms Eulogy and Obituary due to the similarities that surround them. But despite all the similarities, both are very different.

The significant difference between a Eulogy and an Obituary is that the former is an oral speech that is given at the time of the funeral and tells the personal details of the deceased person. In contrast, the latter is a written formal document published in newspapers stating the formal and relevant information of the deceased person. 

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