apocalyptic

adjective apoc·a·lyp·tic \ ə-ˌpä-kə-ˈlip-tik \

variants: or less commonly apocalyptical play \-ti-kəl\

|Updated on: 10 Aug 2018

Examples: apocalyptic in a Sentence

Definition of apocalyptic

1 : of, relating to, or resembling an apocalypse

apocalyptic events

2 : forecasting the ultimate destiny of the world : prophetic

apocalyptic warnings

3 : foreboding imminent disaster or final doom : terrible

apocalyptic signs of the coming end-times

4 : wildly unrestrained : grandiose

5 : ultimately decisive : climactic

an apocalyptic battle

—

apocalyptically

play \-ti-k(ə-)lē\ adverb

See apocalyptic defined for English-language learners

Examples of apocalyptic in a Sentence

No one listened to her apocalyptic predictions.
a less apocalyptic view of the future
the apocalyptic destruction of the world

Recent Examples of apocalyptic from the Web

Either these men had heard about my new situation or something about me, some post-apocalyptic air, had led them to sniff it out.

— joseph o’neill, The New Yorker, "The First World," 21 June 2018
The apocalyptic scenario in the music industry had already come to pass.

— alan murray, Fortune, "North Korea, GDPR Day, Xiaomi IPO: CEO Daily for May 25, 2018," 25 May 2018
On deceptively hopeful third album Love is Dead, out Friday, Chvrches throws an apocalyptic dance party.

— USA TODAY, "Playlist: What is Chvrches listening to?," 25 May 2018
But what followed was probably even worse for the initial survivors of this apocalyptic event.

— ashley strickland, CNN, "These were the unlikely survivors after dinosaurs went extinct," 24 May 2018
The Leftovers,’ the basis for the apocalyptic HBO series starring Justin Theroux.

— Indianapolis Star, "#BookmarkThis with Tom Perrotta," 28 Aug. 2017
Members of Aum Shinrikyo, an apocalyptic cult, had released nerve gas on the Tokyo subway.

— The Economist, "On the hanging of Shoko Asahara, Japan’s nerve-gas guru," 12 July 2018
Before England’s exit, this was beginning to feel like one of those apocalyptic weeks historians would write of in decades to come when huge political strands came together as a sweltering population watched the World Cup.

— jonathan wilson, SI.com, "England's World Cup Run, Southgate Represent More for a Nation in Political Upheaval," 12 July 2018
Metro Exodus The Metro games have a uniquely mean approach to video games' preferred post-apocalyptic settings.

— joshua rivera, GQ, "Every Video Game Worth Paying Attention to from E3 2018," 14 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'apocalyptic.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of apocalyptic

borrowed from New Latin apocalypticus, derivative of apocalypsis apocalypse, by analogy with pairs such as ellīpsis ellipsis : ellīpticus elliptic

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1633

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year