Grim Reaper

American  

noun

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

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Grim Reaper Cultural  

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.

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Usage

What is the Grim Reaper? The Grim Reaper is a fictional skeleton wearing a black robe and wielding a scythe, generally portrayed as the embodiment of death. How is term pronounced?[ grim ree-per ]

Etymology

Origin of Grim Reaper

First recorded in 1925–30

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Grim Reaper

One thing to be said in favor of the Grim Reaper: His taste in literature is pretty sound.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 12, 2025

But Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Senate testimony on Thursday let everyone know that Santa isn’t coming — it’s the Grim Reaper, urging us to bring out the dead.

From Salon ● Sep. 5, 2025

Cartoonists often depicted the Grim Reaper seated behind the wheel.

From Slate ● May 25, 2024

Two years before Murakami’s sworn admission, Larry Del Mese, former Sheriff Alex Villanueva’s chief of staff for a time, similarly testified that he had his Lennox Station Grim Reaper tattoo removed around 2018 or 2019.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2024

“Oh, my, now that’s looking much better, isn’t it? You’ve beat the Grim Reaper, you have, lassie.”

From "Fever 1793" by Laurie Halse Anderson

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