Grim Reaper

noun

1. the personification of death as a man or cloaked skeleton holding a scythe.

Grim Reaper

1. A figure commonly used to represent death. The Grim Reaper is a skeleton or solemn-looking man carrying a scythe, who cuts off people's lives as though he were harvesting grain.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Grim Reaper¹

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

This bottle from Boss Dog Art Dept. offers a message from the Grim Reaper themselves: “Drink water or die.”

From Los Angeles Times

Climate change can be characterized as the Grim Reaper or some other harbinger of dire times for humanity and natural environment, including forests.

From Science Daily

“Oppenheimer” is a tale of what we hath wrought, filtered through the experience of a man whose pallid complexion and tormented insularity make him look like an envoy from the Grim Reaper himself.

From Los Angeles Times

He has made painterly fleece jackets for Givenchy, and Grim Reaper T-shirts for Supreme.

From New York Times

"It finally happened!!!" writes Alejandra Caraballo, along with an illustration of the Grim Reaper pulling Kissinger out of a claw machine.

From Salon