Osteoarthritis (OA) causes pain and disability in the elderly and has placed a severe burden on healthcare worldwide. Excessive death and decreased density of chondrocytes are recognized as the major pathological characteristic of OA. Chondrocytes have been shown to have multiple forms of death, including apoptosis, pyroptosis, necroptosis, and ferroptosis. The excessive death of chondrocytes often forms a vicious circle with imbalanced chondrocytes extracellular matrix (ECM) metabolism. Therefore, inhibiting chondrocytes excessive death has become a key point that cannot be ignored in the development of OA treatment strategies. We summarized recent studies on the functions and mechanisms of different modes of chondrocyte death and potential therapeutic strategies for OA and offered our views. This may provide direction and theoretical support for formulating OA treatment strategies in the future.