Meanings
plural danses macabres
- artA 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 & antonyms
nounA 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.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna medieval dance in which a skeleton representing death leads a procession of others to the grave
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Frenchdanse macabre
- Englishdanse macabre
Borrowed from French danse macabre.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan dansa de la mort
- dansa de la morta conventional subject of artistic painting or drawing
Danish danse macabre, dødsdans
- danse macabrea conventional subject of artistic painting or drawing
- dødsdansa conventional subject of artistic painting or drawing
Dutch dodendans
- dodendansa conventional subject of artistic painting or drawing
Esperanto mortodanco
- mortodancoa conventional subject of artistic painting or drawing
Estonian surmatants
- surmatantsa conventional subject of artistic painting or drawing
Finnish kuolemantanssi
- kuolemantanssia conventional subject of artistic painting or drawing
French danse macabre
- danse macabrea conventional subject of artistic painting or drawing
German Totentanz
- Totentanza conventional subject of artistic painting or drawing
Hungarian haláltánc
- haláltánca conventional subject of artistic painting or drawing
Icelandic dauðadans
- dauðadansa conventional subject of artistic painting or drawing
Irish damhsa an bháis
- damhsa an bháisa conventional subject of artistic painting or drawing
Italian danza macabra
- danza macabraa conventional subject of artistic painting or drawing
Japanese 死の舞踏, ダンスマカブレ
- 死の舞踏 (shinobutō)a conventional subject of artistic painting or drawing
- ダンスマカブレ (Dansumakabure)a conventional subject of artistic painting or drawing
Korean 죽음의 무도
- 죽음의 무도 (jugeumui mudo)a conventional subject of artistic painting or drawing
Latin chorea macchabæorum
- chorea macchabæoruma conventional subject of artistic painting or drawing
Norwegian Bokmål dødsdans
- dødsdansa conventional subject of artistic painting or drawing
Polish taniec śmierci
- taniec śmiercia conventional subject of artistic painting or drawing
Portuguese dança macabra, dança da morte
- dança macabraa conventional subject of artistic painting or drawing
- dança da mortea conventional subject of artistic painting or drawing
Romanian dans macabru
- dans macabrua conventional subject of artistic painting or drawing
Russian пля́ска сме́рти
- пля́ска сме́рти (pljáska smérti)a conventional subject of artistic painting or drawing
Spanish danza de la muerte
- danza de la muertea conventional subject of artistic painting or drawing
Swedish dödsdans
- dödsdansa conventional subject of artistic painting or drawing
Turkish iskeletlerin dansı
- iskeletlerin dansıa conventional subject of artistic painting or drawing
Cite this entry
danse macabre. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/danse%20macabre
“danse macabre.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/danse%20macabre. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “danse macabre,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/danse%20macabre.
Source: danse macabre on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.