Santa Claus

noun

San·​ta Claus ˈsan-tə-ˌklȯz 

also ˈsan-tē-

variants or Santa

ˈsan-tə 

: a plump, white-bearded, red-suited, and jolly old man in modern folklore who delivers presents to children at Christmastime

There might be a few weeks left until Christmas, but Santa Claus and his merry elves landed early in Bakersfield because several boys and girls on the nice list caught their attention.

—Ema Sasic

… we had dashed downstairs to the living room to see what Santa had brought and piled up, in great mounds of splendidly wrapped packages, under the Christmas tree—whose angel's halo brushed the ceiling.

—Anthony Bailey

Examples of Santa Claus in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

What captures Linus’ imagination during our spookiest holiday season is a Santa Claus-like darkling creature known as the Great Pumpkin. — Colin Fleming, Chicago Tribune, 30 Oct. 2026

Much to Leah’s delight, she is paired with Kris (Randy Apostle), a jolly resident who bears an uncanny resemblance to Santa Claus. — Rachel Labonte, Entertainment Weekly, 29 Oct. 2026

Releasing in theaters on November 5, 2027, Naughty follows Mallory (Aniston), whose only hope of securing custody of her son from her gaslighting trash-bag ex is to find Santa Claus (Dinklage) and convince him to testify in her divorce hearing. — Matt Grobar, Deadline, 22 Oct. 2026

In October 2002, Hilary Duff released her holiday album Santa Claus Lane. — Angie Martoccio, Rolling Stone, 21 Oct. 2026

Word History

Etymology

modification of Dutch Sinterklaas, alteration of Sint Nikolaas Saint Nicholas

First Known Use

1773, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for Santa Claus

• byelaws
• candlemas
• chickasaws
• chippewas
• menopause
• repertoires
• tropopause
• ahs
• baas
• cause
• clause
• claws