as in disasters
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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 apocalypses
Based on Thornton Wilder’s The Skin of Our Teeth, the surrealist musical follows one nuclear family across thousands of years and three apocalypses.
—
Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 10 Dec. 2025
And a lot of the pseudepigrapha, like the fake gospels and fake apocalypses, fill in gaps in the record that can serve latter-day, post-biblical purposes.
—JSTOR Daily, 16 Oct. 2025
The audience for 2025’s reel of zombie apocalypses lives in a world shaped, in part, by Americans’ refusal to accept an aging Joe Biden’s ineligibility for President.
—Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 9 Aug. 2025
Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 10 Dec. 2025
And a lot of the pseudepigrapha, like the fake gospels and fake apocalypses, fill in gaps in the record that can serve latter-day, post-biblical purposes.
—JSTOR Daily, 16 Oct. 2025
The audience for 2025’s reel of zombie apocalypses lives in a world shaped, in part, by Americans’ refusal to accept an aging Joe Biden’s ineligibility for President.
—Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 9 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for apocalypses
Noun
-
Homeowners are left to mediate a system that was never designed for neighborhood-scale disasters.—
Michelle Edgar,
Daily News,
27 Feb. 2026
-
Both nights were disasters, in very different ways.—
Luis Palomares,
Miami Herald,
27 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Kennedy has made no bones about his misplaced skepticism of mRNA vaccines, pinging off the proliferating conspiracies around the COVID vaccines — incredible innovations that saved countless lives during one of the worst global catastrophes in recent memory.—
The Orlando Sentinel,
The Orlando Sentinel,
21 Feb. 2026
-
While Scarry’s books present such catastrophes with bright colors and good humor, Gomez undermines this cheer by superimposing on the mural a nearly all-black painting of a desolate tent encampment in front of a home destroyed by the Eaton fire.—
Sharon Mizota,
Los Angeles Times,
16 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Until Republicans find the courage to say no to the NRA, our country will be plagued with more tragedies.—
Emiliano Tahui Gómez,
Austin American Statesman,
1 Mar. 2026
-
Kayce’s days are spent wrangling horses, and his evenings being haunted by nightmares of tragedies past.—
Angie Han,
HollywoodReporter,
27 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
What Trump is most certainly reviewing is the viability of Noem as a Cabinet secretary, who has rapidly become a scapegoat for the predictable calamities of the high-visibility deployment of border guards as SWAT troops in urban centers.—
Chris Stirewalt,
The Hill,
27 Jan. 2026
-
The calamities of war shuttered many of the earliest kissa, as entire collections of jazz records were lost.—
Nneka M. Okona,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
21 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Apocalypses.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/apocalypses. Accessed 5 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
