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 The end of the world has come in many forms for Robert and Michelle King, television’s reigning masters of the feel-good/feel-bad apocalypse. — Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 6 Oct. 2026 Iñárritu’s play-within-a-film-within-an-apocalypse structure invites the audience to mock Cruise’s character, only to dismiss that catharsis as cold comfort. — Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 6 Oct. 2026 In it, Cruise disappears behind makeup and prosthetics into the role of Texas oilman Digger Rockwell, whose company sparks an ecological disaster that could end in nuclear apocalypse. — Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 30 Sep. 2026 The surreal French film Delicatessen, cowritten and directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amélie) and Marc Caro, points its off-kilter lens at the oddball residents of an apartment building that’s scraping by post-apocalypse. — Sara Netzley, Entertainment Weekly, 11 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for apocalypse
Recent Examples of Synonyms for apocalypse
  1. disaster
  2. catastrophe
  3. tragedy
  4. calamity
Noun
  • Faizi said ambulances and disaster management personnel arrived from a nearby facility within five minutes of being alerted.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 16 Oct. 2026
  • For example, largely because of the environmental disaster that is Weikuang Dam, the country doesn’t permit the development or operation of stand-alone monazite mines—that is, mines where nothing is mined except monazite ore.
    — Glenn Zorpette, IEEE Spectrum, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of disaster
Noun
  • In a 2024 interview with TIME, Netanyahu denied making the statement, insisting that the payments were meant to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe.
    — Eric Cortellessa, Time, 18 Oct. 2026
  • Information and statistics are flying around, with some groups framing the AI data center boom as a potential environmental catastrophe, while others say concerns are overblown or even fake.
    — Laura Paddison, CNN Money, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of catastrophe
Noun
  • There’s a slickness to the carnage that rubs uncomfortably against the film’s humanist ethos, rendering artificial (for all Shen Teng’s trembling and mouth-contorting labors) the horrific tragedies that befall its characters.
    — Beatrice Loayza, Variety, 13 Oct. 2026
  • After Monday’s tragedy prompted Six Flags Over Georgia to evacuate guests, a spokesperson said the amusement park will reopen Friday.
    — Rebekah Riess, CNN Money, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of tragedy
Noun
  • The protagonist becomes a wise-guy version of Benjamin’s Angel of History, watching calamities accumulate before his eyes.
    — Alex Ross, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026
  • The toxic loans were also packaged and peddled around the world to banks everywhere, resulting in a calamity.
    — Gary Franks, Hartford Courant, 25 Sep. 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 20 Oct. 2026.

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