Meanings
nounsugar skull (plural sugar skulls)
plural sugar skulls
- MexicoA brightly colored skull face icon, placed on the grave of the deceased to celebrate their life during festivals and feast days.
Synonyms: calavera
- A more modern design of the same style, often done as a tattoo, and normally darker in colour and more macabre.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA brightly colored skull face icon, placed on the grave of the deceased to celebrate their life during festivals and feast days.
Similar
Origin
From the use of clay-molded sugar in their preparation.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
sugar skull. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sugar%20skull
MLA
“sugar skull.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sugar%20skull. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sugar skull,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sugar%20skull.
Source: sugar skull on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.