apocalypse

noun

ə-ˈpä-kə-ˌlips How to pronounce apocalypse (audio)
Definition of apocalypsenext
as in disaster
a sudden violent event that brings about great loss or destruction the fear that the next global pandemic could be an apocalypse of biblical proportions

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of apocalypse Whitehead plumbed his boyhood fondness for horror movies in Zone One (2011), a zombie apocalypse novel set in a post-9/11 lower Manhattan in the wake of a pandemic. — Literary Hub, 28 July 2026 The widow certainly has not had a lot to smile about in the zombie apocalypse, and definitely not to the man who brutally murdered her husband. — Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 27 July 2026 Long before OpenAI broke out of its test corral and hacked into Hugging Face, before the internet and Sam Altman were even born, Cameron wrote a screenplay about an autonomous artificial intelligence system that triggers a nuclear apocalypse. — ABC News, 26 July 2026 The simulator has options such as target practice, zombie apocalypse and even real-life self-defense scenarios. — Shannon Tyler, Idaho Statesman, 25 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for apocalypse
Recent Examples of Synonyms for apocalypse
  1. disaster
  2. catastrophe
  3. tragedy
  4. calamity
Noun
  • The baby’s father, Andres Garcia, survived the boat disaster, a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation told CNN.
    — Martin Goillandeau, CNN Money, 20 Aug. 2026
  • Rescuers continued recovering bodies from the artisanal mining site in Zamboye, near the border with Cameroon, but local workers said the response lacked the equipment and expertise needed for a disaster of such scale.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of disaster
Noun
  • Massive crude stockpiles before the war helped prevent catastrophe when supply dried up.
    — David Goldman, CNN Money, 17 Aug. 2026
  • As the summer of 2001 wears on through the lens of Kopple’s camera, our knowledge of the coming catastrophe casts a shadow over the proceedings.
    — Naomi Fry, New Yorker, 15 Aug. 2026
Definition of catastrophe
Noun
  • At first, its plea to remain somewhere in an old lover’s life can feel like the whole tragedy.
    — Jeff Ihaza, Rolling Stone, 20 Aug. 2026
  • Boeing has admitted fault in these tragedies, attributing the cause of the crashes to a flawed Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS).
    — Erin Jensen, USA Today, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of tragedy
Noun
  • The latest findings indicated the vest could reduce an astronaut’s radiation dose by about 60% in a solar storm as fierce as the one in 1972 and by nearly 40% in a calamity mirroring 1989.
    — Marcia Dunn, Los Angeles Times, 15 Aug. 2026
  • What followed was a season of extended power outages, blue-tarped roofs and yet a strange sense of community, as neighbors went out of their way to look after those that had shared in their calamity.
    — Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of calamity

Browse Nearby Words

aplomb
apocalypse
apocalypses
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Cite this Entry

“Apocalypse.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/apocalypse. Accessed 22 Aug. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of apocalypse for Spanish Speakers

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