Word.ws English Dictionary

danse macabre

/dɑns məˈkɑb(ɹə)/US/dɑns məˈkɑb/

danse macabre noun: a conventional subject in art, literature and drama, or a particular work in that style, in which death (in the form of a putrid corpse, skeleton, the Grim Reaper, etc) is shown leading people to the grave.

Noun

danse macabre (plural danses macabres)

  1. A conventional subject in art, literature and drama, or a particular work in that style, in which death (in the form of a putrid corpse, skeleton, the Grim Reaper, etc) is shown leading people to the grave.
    Synonyms:
    dance of death

Synonyms of danse macabre

Forms of danse macabre

pluraldanses macabres

Origin of danse macabre

Borrowed from French danse macabre.

Questions about danse macabre

What does danse macabre mean?
Danse macabre means a conventional subject in art, literature and drama, or a particular work in that style, in which death (in the form of a putrid corpse, skeleton, the Grim Reaper, etc) is shown leading people to the grave.
What part of speech is danse macabre?
Danse macabre is a noun.
How do you pronounce danse macabre?
Danse macabre is pronounced /dɑns məˈkɑb(ɹə)/ (UK).
What is the plural of danse macabre?
The plural of danse macabre is danses macabres.

Words near danse macabre in the dictionary

  1. dansak
  2. dansaks
  3. dansband
  4. Dansby
  5. Dansbys
  6. danse macabre
  7. Danser
  8. Dansereau
  9. Dansereaus
  10. Dansers
  11. danseur

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: danse macabre (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-danse macabre.wav.

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