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

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

Brooke has arrived back at the family homestead in the California desert on Christmas Eve, bearing copies of her manuscript like a sinister Santa Claus. — Sara Holdren, Vulture, 19 Oct. 2026

Across his career and many roles, Riehle has portrayed Santa Claus in eight different projects, including five films, two television shows, and a television movie. — Isabelle Farina, Variety, 19 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