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We trace the origins of macabre to the name of the Book of Maccabees, which is included in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox canons of the Old Testament and in the Protestant Apocrypha. Sections of this biblical text address both the deaths of faithful people asked to renounce their religion, and the manner in which the dead should be properly commemorated. In medieval France, representations of these passages were performed as a procession or dance which became known as the "dance of death" or "dance Maccabee"; the latter was spelled in several different ways, including danse de Macabré. In English, macabre was originally used in reference to this "dance of death" but then gradually broadened in use to describe anything grim or horrific. Today macabre functions as a synonym of gruesome or repulsive, always with a connection to the physical aspects of death and suffering.
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Examples of macabre in a Sentence
Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 11 Oct. 2024
When a jihadist group attacks two very young shepherds, 14-year-old Ashraf is forced to take a macabre message back to his family.
—Zac Ntim, Deadline, 10 Oct. 2024
Goth’s mainstream profile tends to ebb and surge, and the past few years have seen a new wave of macabre media that seems to be cresting this fall.
—Judy Berman, TIME, 10 Oct. 2024
Purnell — who between this, Fallout and the aforementioned Yellowjackets has recently thrived in macabre milieus — embodies her character’s many contradictions with ease.
—Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Oct. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Macabre.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/macabre. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.
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macabre
adjective
-ˈkäb-ər
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