death mask

noun

1. a cast taken of a person's face after death.

death mask

noun

1. See life mask
   a cast of a person's face taken shortly after death Compare life mask

Word History and Origins

Origin of death mask¹

First recorded in 1875–80

Example Sentences

Giani says the real death mask belongs to a private collector, which is what Brown insinuates in his book.

From The Daily Beast

Philip Shenon reports on the desperate drive to keep the golden death mask and Egypt's other treasures from harm.

From The Daily Beast

She possesses an almost Cubist face, with a receded hairline and crooked grimace, that looks like a death mask.

From The Daily Beast

It is only my own self—myself gone behind and peeping round a corner, grinning back sympathy at me from its sickening death-mask!

From Project Gutenberg

Priceless objects had been found, including the King's death mask of painted gold.

From Project Gutenberg

For one horrid moment it seemed to Wade that the fixed grimace of the death-mask expressed hideous mirth.

From Project Gutenberg

His eyelids closed and his face became rigid as a death mask of a man dead in passion.

From Project Gutenberg

There was a death-mask of papier-maché on the back of his head with appropriate funereal drapings down the body.

From Project Gutenberg