Apocalypse

/əˈpɒkəlɪps/ · noun

Meaning

A revealing, especially a prophecy of, or the unfolding of, supernatural events..

Definitions by Sense

1. A revealing, especially a prophecy of, or the unfolding of, supernatural events.
2. A huge disaster; a cataclysmic event; destruction or ruin of large scope and scale.
3. (Christianity) The unveiling of events prophesied in the Revelation; the second coming and the end of life on Earth; global destruction.
4. (Christianity) The Book of Revelation.
5. (transitive, uncommon, chiefly Christianity) To reveal.
6. (intransitive, informal, rare) To dwell on a huge disaster one expects to take place.
7. (ambitransitive, informal, rare) To bring about (a huge disaster).

Example Sentences

The early development of Perl 6 was punctuated by a series of apocalypses by Larry Wall.

Near-synonyms: cataclysm, catastrophe, holocaust; armageddon, doomsday, end times, eschaton, judgement day, judgment day

A nuclear apocalypse would have been possible if tensions went out of control during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Man has forgotten the soul and thus doomed his civilization to apocalypse.

The Spanish mission in America soon became not so much crusade as apocalypse.

In 2016, President Barack Obama told his staff that Donald Trump’s election victory was “not the apocalypse”. By any definition, he was correct. But understood in the original sense of the Greek word apokálypsis, meaning “unveiling”, Obama could not give the same reassurance in 2025.

Meronyms: Final Judgment, Judgment Day, judgement day, judgment day

Near-synonym: Ragnarok

Synonyms for apocalypse

Antonyms for apocalypse

Related Words

Word Forms

• apocalypses
• apocalypsing
• apocalypsed

Usage Notes

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