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Meaning & use

apocalypse

noun, proper noun·Advanced

Last updated

UK/əˈpɒkəlɪps/
US/əˈpɑːkəlɪps/

Meanings

  1. nouncountable or uncountable

    An event of huge and widespread destruction, often imagined as bringing civilization or the world to an end.

    Grammar: Often used with the or a: the apocalypse, a nuclear apocalypse.

    Patterns

    • an apocalypse of something
    • survive the apocalypse

    Many films imagine a zombie apocalypse.

    Scientists warned that nuclear war could trigger an apocalypse.

    The flood felt like an apocalypse to the village.

  2. nouncountableinformalfigurativehumorous

    Used humorously or loosely for any situation that feels like a total disaster.

    Grammar: Often with a joking tone.

    Patterns

    • the apocalypse of something

    When the power cut hit during the finale, it was a small apocalypse for the fans.

    If the printer breaks before the deadline, it will be the office apocalypse.

    He treated the burnt toast as a breakfast apocalypse.

  3. proper nounproperreligion

    The Apocalypse is the biblical Book of Revelation, or the final events of history it describes.

    Grammar: Written with a capital An and the.

    Patterns

    • the Apocalypse

    Medieval artists often painted scenes from the Apocalypse.

    The preacher read aloud from the Apocalypse.

    The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse appear in the text.

Word forms

pluralapocalypses

Common combinations

zombie apocalypse
They joked about surviving a zombie apocalypse.
nuclear apocalypse
The novel opens after a nuclear apocalypse.
post-apocalyptic world
The game takes place in a post-apocalyptic world.
herald the apocalypse
Some people claimed the comet would herald the apocalypse.
survive the apocalypse
What would you pack to survive the apocalypse?

Synonyms and how they differ

catastrophe
Catastrophe is a general term for a huge disaster, while apocalypse implies total, world-ending ruin.
doomsday
Doomsday names the day of final judgment or ruin, whereas apocalypse names the destruction event itself.
cataclysm
Cataclysm describes a violent upheaval, often natural, and need not threaten the whole world.

Word family

apocalyptic adjective
relating to total destruction or the end of the world
apocalyptically adverb
in a way suggesting total destruction
post-apocalyptic adjective
set after a world-ending disaster

Commonly confused: apocalypse or apocryphal?

apocalypse vs apocryphal

Apocryphal means of doubtful truth, as in an apocryphal story, and is unrelated to destruction.

Practice

The film shows a lonely survivor wandering a city emptied by a ____.

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