death mask

noun

: a cast taken from the face of a dead person

Examples of death mask in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The show has its origins in Tussaud’s death masks of French royalty and victims of the French Revolution, including King Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. Encyclopedia Britannica, 8 June 2026 There are plenty of famous and popular gold statues — Thailand’s Golden Buddha; the Golden Madonna of Essen in Germany; Jeanne d’Arc in Paris; Prometheus at Rockefeller Center in New York; even Tutankhamun’s death mask and solid gold coffin, which travel the world. Culture Critic, Los Angeles Times, 1 Apr. 2026 The 5,400,000-square-foot space is filled with 100,000 artifacts from across eras, including Tutankhamun’s gold death mask and an 83-ton statue of Ramses II. Catherine Garcia, TheWeek, 2 Jan. 2026 Sachs’s film is all the greater for not showing this, and for creating a personal work of mourning—not a death mask but a life one. Richard Brody, New Yorker, 5 Nov. 2025 See All Example Sentences for death mask

Word History

First Known Use

1838, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of death mask was in 1838

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Cite this Entry

“Death mask.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/death%20mask. Accessed 21 Jun. 2026.

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