lifeless body; corpse
Literary or formal term for a dead body, emphasizing the physical shell without soul.
Lifeless bodies were scattered across the battlefield.
Refers to the bare structural remains of a building, vehicle, or other physical object after decay or destruction.
After the fire, only the skeleton of the building remained.
mere shell; empty form; dead letter
Abstract use for something that retains its outward form but has lost its substance, meaning, or effectiveness. Often used in phrases like 形骸化する (to become a mere shell).
The system has become a dead letter and no longer functions.
His authority was nothing but an empty shell.
becoming a mere shell; losing substance; reduced to a formality
From Middle Chinese 形骸 (heng heaj). The characters 形 (form) and 骸 (remains, corpse) combine to mean the physical form left after the essence is gone.