Jack the Ripper

British  

noun

1. an unidentified murderer who killed at least seven prostitutes in London's East End between August and November 1888

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Jack the Ripper Cultural  

1. A criminal in London in the late nineteenth century apparently responsible for several ghastly murders by slashing. His identity is unknown.

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Example Sentences

He was Jack the Ripper in “Time After Time” in 1979; two years later, in “Time Bandits,” his character was named simply Evil Genius.

From New York Times • Jul. 25, 2022

I also enjoyed a fair amount of history-focused nonfiction, starting with Richard Altick’s witty survey of 19th-century murder, “Victorian Studies in Scarlet,” followed by several document-based accounts of Jack the Ripper.

From Washington Post • Aug. 24, 2021

Jack the Ripper, simply put, was an embarrassment.

From Salon • Jul. 10, 2021

During his career, Frank Windsor reprised the role of John Watt in 1973 to reopen the Jack the Ripper murder investigations alongside fellow Z Cars character Charlie Barlow, played by Stafford Johns.

From BBC • Oct. 2, 2020

“No one even knows who Jack the Ripper really was.”

From "Genuine Fraud" by E. Lockhart