epochal

adjective ep·och·al \ ˈe-pə-kəl , ˈe-ˌpä-kəl \

|Updated on: 10 Jun 2018

Definition of epochal

1 : of or relating to an epoch

2 : uniquely or highly significant : momentous

during his three epochal years in the assembly
—C. G. Bowers

also : unparalleled

epochal stupidity

—

epochally

adverb

Recent Examples of epochal from the Web

Almost before that epochal change can sink in, the government is taking steps to end another practice backed by the Catholic Church: a provision that gives preference in most of the country’s elementary schools to children who have been baptized.

— New York Times, "Ireland Takes On the Catholic Church Again. This Time It’s About Schools.," 1 June 2018
Powers’s dominant mode of narrative is synopsis, a necessary crutch given the novel’s mob of characters and epochal chronological scale.

— nathaniel rich, The Atlantic, "The Novel That Asks, ‘What Went Wrong With Mankind?’," 11 May 2018
In that light, turning away from Google and Amazon reflects the investing philosophy that has been core to Berkshire Hathaway’s epochal success.

— david z. morris, Fortune, "Warren Buffett Says He Was Wrong About Google and Amazon," 6 May 2018
That's an approach that could escalate the standoff with the President into an epochal Supreme Court drama with massive political reverberations -- which many experts think Trump would lose.

— stephen collinson, CNN, "Trump and Mueller are closing in on open war," 3 May 2018
This friend was a political activist who’d been present at many epochal moments of the struggle against apartheid in the 1980s and the remaking of the nation in the 1990s.

— eve fairbanks, The New Republic, "The Scapegoating of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela," 5 Apr. 2018
Users will also be able to filter Snapchat lenses over their faces, like the epochal rainbow vomiting mouth or puppy dog ears.

— thuy ong, The Verge, "Snapchat introduces group video chat and friend tagging in Stories," 3 Apr. 2018
In short, things couldn't be further removed from the 2011 Arab Spring, which began with protests in Tunisia but turned into an epochal event when anti-Mubarak demonstrators took over Cairo's Tahrir Square.

— ishaan tharoor, Washington Post, "Egypt’s farcical election and the long Arab winter," 28 Mar. 2018
Welcome to Reuters, the news agency which faces, today, the most epochal decision in its history.

— felix salmon, Recode, "Reuters just got $10 billion to build a sustainable news business. How should it spend it?," 16 Mar. 2018

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

First Known Use of epochal

1685

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

Other Geology Terms

anthracite, boulder, cwm, erratic, igneous, intrusive, mesa, sedimentary, silt, swale

Learn More about epochal

See words that rhyme with epochal

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up epochal? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show

epochal

Definition of epochal

epochally

Recent Examples of epochal from the Web

First Known Use of epochal

Other Geology Terms

Learn More about epochal

Seen and Heard

WORD OF THE DAY

balmy

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Test Your Vocabulary

Words at Play

If the Shoe Fits

On the Disruption of 'Disrupt'

'Than': What Follows It and Why

Words We're Watching: 'B side'

Ask the Editors

Ghost Word

2017 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

Literally

Is Singular 'They' a Better Choice?

Word Games

Name More Food!

Yearbook Superlatives Quiz

Spell It

Add Diction

If the Shoe Fits

On the Disruption of 'Disrupt'

Trending: 'Asylum' Trends as Policies Draw Attention

Name More Food!

Ghost Word

epochal

Definition of epochal

epochally

Recent Examples of epochal from the Web

First Known Use of epochal

Other Geology Terms

Learn More about epochal

Seen and Heard

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games

If the Shoe Fits

On the Disruption of 'Disrupt'

Trending: 'Asylum' Trends as Policies Draw Attention

Name More Food!

Ghost Word