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

Example Sentences

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

And I wasn’t allowed to go to the funeral—Daddy thought it was bad luck to have a child so close to the Grim Reaper.

From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan