- Jan 11 François Joseph Paul de Grasse, French admiral (commanded the French fleet at the Battle of the Chesapeake), dies at 64
- Jan 14 François Joseph Paul, marquis de Grasetilly, comte de Grasse, French admiral (b. 1722)
- Jan 31 [Bonnie Prince] Charles Edward Stuart, English pretender to throne (Jacobite rebellion), dies at 67
- Feb 18 John Whitehurst, English clockmaker and scientist, dies at 75
- Feb 20 Gijsbert John van Hardenbroeck, Dutch regent (Utrecht), dies at 68
- Feb 21 Johann Georg Palitzsch, German astronomer (b. 1723)
- Feb 21 Johann Georg Palitzsch, German astronomer, 1st saw Halley's comet on return, dies at 64
- Feb 28 Thomas Cushing, American Continental Congressman (b. 1725)
- Mar 29 Charles Wesley, hymn writer, dies
- Apr 16 George-Louis Leclerc, count de Buffon, French naturalist and writer on natural history (Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière), dies at 80
- Apr 22 Zacharias H Alewijn, Dutch poet, dies 46
- May 8 Giovanni Antonio Scopoli, Italian-born physician and naturalist (b. 1723)
- May 29 Jacques Aliamet, French etcher/engraver, dies at 61
- Jun 12 Johann A Cramer, prime minister/poet, dies at 65
- Jun 18 Adam Gib, Scottish religious leader (b. 1714)
- Jun 21 Johann Georg Hamann, German counter-enlightenment philosopher ("Reason is language"), dies at 57
- Jul 8 Armand de Vignerot du Plessis, French marshal and statesman, 3rd Duke of Richilieu, dies at 92
- Aug 2 Thomas Gainsborough, English painter (Blue Boy), dies at 61
- Aug 8 Louis FAD Duke the Richelieu, French marshal, dies at 92
- Sep 14 John Penn, US attorney, signed (Declaration of Independence), dies at 47
- Sep 30 Matthäus Günther, German painter, dies at 83
- Oct 13 Robert Nugent, 1st Earl Nugent, Irish politician and poet (b. 1702)
- Oct 15 Samuel Greig, Scottish-Russian admiral (b. 1735)
- Nov 28 Charles C of Nassau-Weilburg, governor of Maastricht, dies at about 53
- Dec 6 Jonathan Shipley, British bishop and politician (b. 1714)
- Dec 14 Carlos III, King of Naples/Spain (1759-88), dies at 72
- Dec 22 Percivall Pott, English physician and surgeon (b. 1714)
- Dec 30 Francesco Zuccarelli, Italian rococo painter and etcher, dies at 86