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danse macabre

American  
[dahns ma-ka-bruh] / dɑ̃s maˈka brə /

danse macabre British  
/ dɑ̃s makɑbrə /

noun

  1. another name for dance of death

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of danse macabre

From French

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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

Written for the Isarphilharmonie, the work explored opposites of sound: the full might of the ensemble in a danse macabre versus a chamber group from just the principal strings.

From New York Times • Oct. 12, 2021

“It’s never particularly good news for the world when March’s shivery danse macabre of a poem threatens to come back in vogue,” Harris notes.

From New York Times • Sep. 6, 2021

His body of work is a long danse macabre between fiction and reality.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 9, 2021

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