danse macabre

American  

[dahns ma-ka-br^uh] / dɑ̃s maˈka brə /

noun

1. dance of death.

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danse macabre British  

/ dɑ̃s makɑbrə /

noun

1. another name for dance of death

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Etymology

Origin of danse macabre

From French

Example Sentences

In contrast to the danse macabre sequences at the deathbed, Jill overhears the “celebratory sound” of a neighbor’s back yard evening wedding by torchlight.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 26, 2026

The three friends try to find their rhythm in the steps of the danse macabre she creates, even as old dance patterns of desire and friendship bring them closer to the encroaching flames.

From Los Angeles Times • May 14, 2025

The grim lyricism of Adès’s love songs and lullabies returns with another Berceuse, followed by the finale, “Waltzes,” a rhapsodic assemblage that evolves into a relentless danse macabre analogue to the opera itself.

From New York Times • Oct. 23, 2022

With its ingenious recastings of Russian Orthodox chants and the Catholic “Dies Irae,” this can be a grand, mesmerizingly intense score, a danse macabre written as World War II was underway.

From New York Times • Apr. 8, 2022

And then he lay there as the danse macabre of the demons of fear that lived in his body began in earnest.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy