1
as in inferno
a destructive burning
the holocaust caused by the ignited chemicals completely destroyed the factory and several surrounding homes
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in massacre
the killing of a large number of people
as many as 2,000,000 people may have perished in the holocaust perpetrated by Cambodia's Khmer Rouge
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of holocaust
Paul Hill, who was executed for gunning down a Florida clinic doctor and a volunteer in 1994, cited Bonhoeffer in viewing the attacks against clinics as a way of preventing a holocaust.
—
John Blake, CNN Money, 13 Apr. 2025
What may do us in isn’t a meteor, a nuclear holocaust or a superpandemic.
—Steve Forbes, Forbes, 4 Mar. 2025
What may do us in isn’t a meteor, a nuclear holocaust or a superpandemic.
—Steve Forbes, Forbes, 4 Mar. 2025
But in the two or three minutes since his initial departure, the fiery holocaust had somehow become even more deadly.
—Stephen Rodrick, Rolling Stone, 13 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for holocaust
John Blake, CNN Money, 13 Apr. 2025
What may do us in isn’t a meteor, a nuclear holocaust or a superpandemic.
—Steve Forbes, Forbes, 4 Mar. 2025
What may do us in isn’t a meteor, a nuclear holocaust or a superpandemic.
—Steve Forbes, Forbes, 4 Mar. 2025
But in the two or three minutes since his initial departure, the fiery holocaust had somehow become even more deadly.
—Stephen Rodrick, Rolling Stone, 13 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for holocaust
Recent Examples of Synonyms for holocaust
Noun
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Climate change is a major contributor, as drought and rising global temperatures make the infernos bigger, faster and harder to stop.—
CNN.com Wire Service,
Mercury News,
3 July 2025
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And days before the Formula One Grand Prix in Jeddah in March 2022, the Houthi rebels fired a missile at an oil storage facility in the Saudi city and an inferno of fire and smoke filled the skyline.—
Dina Esfandiary,
Time,
1 July 2025
Noun
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The massacre of the people of Gaza continues unabated.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
27 June 2025
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As early as the 1970s, Jordan’s crushing of Palestinian guerrillas prompted the emergence of the Black September organization and the Munich Olympic massacre of Israeli athletes.—
HUSSEIN AGHA,
Foreign Affairs,
23 June 2025
Noun
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Roley, who was found dead near the scene after appearing to have shot himself, is suspected of lighting the brush with a flint fire starter before ambushing the firefighting crew in a mountainous area of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.—
David Zimmermann,
The Washington Examiner,
1 July 2025
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The suspect was found to be in possession of a Flint starter that Norris said Monday was believed to be used to ignite the fire.—
Landon Mion,
FOXNews.com,
1 July 2025
Noun
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They were all robbed, of very little money, and in three instances, their homes were set ablaze to hide evidence of the slaughter that had taken place inside, authorities said.—
KC Baker,
People.com,
20 June 2025
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Sequences of compliant sheep, moving to their mechanized slaughter, sometimes cut to scenes of streetwise children, repurposing rubble for games.—
Doreen St. Félix,
New Yorker,
14 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Holocaust.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/holocaust. Accessed 16 Jul. 2025.
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