apocalypse
Syllables: a·poc·a·lypse/əˈpɒkəlɪps/US/əˈpɑkəlɪps/
apocalypse noun: a revealing, especially a prophecy of, or the unfolding of, supernatural events.
Noun
apocalypse (plural apocalypses)
- A revealing, especially a prophecy of, or the unfolding of, supernatural events.
- The early development of Perl 6 was punctuated by a series of apocalypses by Larry Wall.
- Synonyms:
- revelation
- A huge disaster; a cataclysmic event; destruction or ruin of large scope and scale.
- 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.
- Synonyms:
- cataclysm, catastrophe, holocaust, armageddon, doomsday, end times, eschaton, judgement day, judgment day
- The unveiling of events prophesied in the Revelation; the second coming and the end of life on Earth; global destruction.
- Meronyms: Final Judgment, Judgment Day, judgement day, judgment day
- Near-synonym: Ragnarok
- Synonyms:
- armageddon, doomsday, end times, eschaton, Ragnarok
- The Book of Revelation.
- Synonyms:
- Revelation
Verb
apocalypse (third-person singular simple present apocalypses, present participle apocalypsing, simple past and past participle apocalypsed)
- To reveal.
- The transitory sufferings of the present time can never be put in competition with the glory which shall be apocalypsed in us; for even the creation itself, which shall not possess the glory, shall nevertheless derive from them such real solid benefit, such true freedom from real ills, that she...1832 March 17, Joseph D’Arcy Sirr, “Appendix”, in The First Resurrection Considered in a Series of Letters: […], Philadelphia, Pa.: Orrin Rogers, […] E. G. Dorsey, […], published 1841, →OCLC, page 155
- For the information of the mere English reader we may remark that apocalupsis is derived from a verb which signifies “to uncover, bring to light what was hidden.” […] Now, when this shall be the order of the day, the nations will have been apocalypsed by him who will be “the glory of Israel.” […]...1869, John Thomas, “Who are the Servants of God”, in Eureka: An Exposition of the Apocalypse, in Harmony with “The Things of the Kingdom of the Deity, and the Name of Jesus Anointed”, 2nd edition...
- To dwell on a huge disaster one expects to take place.
- “To Las Vegas? When was that?” “About four months before she died. When he was twenty-one. Just before he started in on all that preaching and apocalypsing business. […] Had him a vision, he said, and God told him to change his name to Sam-u-el Mor-de-cai. And ever since then he’s been apocalypsing...1995, Mary Willis Walker, chapter 6, in Under the Beetle’s Cellar (Molly Cates; 2), New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, →ISBN, page 73
- This doesn’t mean that you pretend the tornado in Kansas didn’t happen. Perhaps it spurs you to think about emergency preparedness. But you’ll be planning proactively, in the present, not worrying or apocalypsing.2010, Teresa Griffith, “Perspective of Time”, in Love Your Skeletons, [Morrisville, N.C.]: [Lulu.com], published January 2012 (3rd printing), →ISBN, part 3 (Care and Maintenance of Your Skeletons)...
- To bring about (a huge disaster).
- The fourth age of this Lunaeon is alive with povertous homage / For those whom^([sic]) chew upon the Rockking’s wealth / And worship his unlovable stone / Apocalypsing an end to this ever-there-be-day / Wear a cloak of benightly screaming / Banshees, eager to roam whence / Windrom releases their...2011, D.j.W., “REALMWOL”, in The Rockking (Realmwol; instalment 4, series 2), [Morrisville, N.C.]: Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 153
- ROBOT APOCALYPSE / Of all the apocalypses, this is my favorite. So much better than the zombie apocalypse, […] Instead of having some drooling, extremely gross-looking shuffling moron take a bite out of me and turn me into a drooling moron ([…]), I imagine C-3PO politely harvesting my organs for...2018, Andy McElfresh, “Anything to that Sci-Fi Trope?”, in The Edumacation Book: Amazing Cocktail-Party Science to Impress Your Friends, San Francisco, Calif.: Weldon Owen, →ISBN, page 282
Proper noun capitalized: Apocalypse
Apocalypse (plural Apocalypses)
- The written account of a revelation of hidden things given by God to a chosen prophet.
- Apocalypses of Adam and Abraham (Epiphanius) and of Elias (Jerome) are also mentioned.
- Revelation (last book of the Bible, composed of twenty-two chapters, which narrates a vision of the end times).
- He's been reading the Apocalypse again, and doomscrolling social media content that fixates on it.
- Armageddon: the destructive end of the world.
- They keep predicting that the Apocalypse is nigh, but I notice that they have books and supplies that they're trying to sell.
apocalypse meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Malayalam
apocalypse in Hindi
- revealing or revelation
- कश्फ kaśph, कश्फ़ kaśf
- cataclysmic event
- संक्षय saṅkṣay
- end of the world
- संक्षय saṅkṣay, क़यामत qayāmat
apocalypse in Tamil
- ஊழி, யுகமுடிவு, உலகழிவு, ஊழியிறுதி பற்றிய நூல், ஒடிவு, சங்காரம்
apocalypse in Urdu
- revealing or revelation
- کَشْف kašf
- end of the world
- قیامت qayāmat
apocalypse in Malayalam
- apocalypse; end of universe, destruction of the universe
- പ്രളയം praḷayaṁ
More languagesFewer languages
- apocalypse in Kannada
- ಅಪೋಕ್ಯಾಲಿಪ್ಸ್
- apocalypse in Tagalog
- hulawat
- apocalypse in Arabic
- الْقِيَامَة al-qiyāma, نِهَايَةُ الْعَالَم nihāyatu l-ʕālam
- apocalypse in Indonesian
- wahyu, kiamat
- apocalypse in Persian
- آخرالزمان âxar-oz-zamân, قیامت qiyâmat
- apocalypse in Myanmar
- ကမ္ဘာပျက်ခြင်း kambha-pyakhkrang:
Examples of apocalypse in a sentence
- Man has forgotten the soul and thus doomed his civilization to apocalypse.1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London...
- The Spanish mission in America soon became not so much crusade as apocalypse.2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 699:
- In 2016, President Barack Obama told his staff that Donald Trump’s election victory was “not the apocalypse”.2025 January 10, Peter Thiel, quoting Barack Obama, “A time for truth and reconciliation”, in Financial Times, archived from the original...
- In Jesus Christ, that new creation has apocalypsed the cosmic conflict between life and death.2014 November 10, Jonathan R. Wilson, “Aesthetics of the Kingdom: Apocalypsis, Eschatos, and Vision for Christian Mission”, in Derek J[ohn]...
Synonyms of apocalypse
- revelation
- cataclysm
- catastrophe
- holocaust
- armageddon
- doomsday
- end times
- eschaton
- judgement day
- judgment day
1 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of apocalypse
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | apocalypses |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | apocalypses |
| present participle | apocalypsing |
| past participle | apocalypsed |
| past | apocalypsed |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Apocalypses |
Origin of apocalypse
From Middle English apocalips, from Latin apocalypsis, from Ancient Greek ἀποκάλυψις (apokálupsis, “revelation”, literally “uncovering”), from ἀποκαλύπτω (apokalúptō, “to reveal”), from ἀπό (apó, “back, away from”) + καλύπτω (kalúptō, “to cover”), + -σις (-sis, suffix forming nouns). The sense evolution to "catastrophe, end of the world" stems from the depiction of such events in the biblical Book of Revelation, also called the Apocalypse of (i.e. Revelation to) John. The verb is from the noun and, in sense 1, a semantic loan from the etymonic Ancient Greek verb ἀποκαλύπτω (apokalúptō, “to reveal”).
Proprialization from apocalypse, ultimately from Ancient Greek ἀποκάλυψις (apokálupsis, “revelation”). The translation decisions, from the original Greek to the conventional English choices Revelation and Apocalypse, are covered by Wikipedia at Book of Revelation § Title, authorship, and date.
Words formed from apocalypse
Phrases with apocalypse
Questions about apocalypse
- What does apocalypse mean?
- Apocalypse means a revealing, especially a prophecy of, or the unfolding of, supernatural events.
- What is apocalypse in Hindi?
- Apocalypse in Hindi is कश्फ (kaśph), कश्फ़ (kaśf), संक्षय (saṅkṣay). See Apocalypse meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use apocalypse in a sentence?
- Man has forgotten the soul and thus doomed his civilization to apocalypse.
- What part of speech is apocalypse?
- Apocalypse can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce apocalypse?
- Apocalypse is pronounced /əˈpɒkəlɪps/ (UK).
- What is the plural of apocalypse?
- The plural of apocalypse is apocalypses.
Words near apocalypse in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: apocalypse (page history and authors); Apocalypse (page history and authors); apocalypse (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); പ്രളയം (Malayalam) (page history and authors); apocalypse (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-apocalypse.wav.
Cite this entry: “apocalypse.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/apocalypse. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.