- a prophecy or revelation, especially regarding a final cataclysmic battle between good and evil.
- in some belief systems, a final cataclysmic battle of this kind, in which evil is defeated and the present age brought to a close: According to traditional evangelical teaching, the apocalypse will begin with a time of persecution.
- the end of civilization; the complete destruction or collapse of the world as we know it (sometimes used facetiously): On both ends of the political spectrum, visions of the apocalypse and predictions of doom abound.We thought this recession might be the apocalypse, and sales would go down to 1 percent.
- any universal or widespread destruction or disaster: If humanity is to avoid a nuclear apocalypse, a whole new level of international cooperation is urgently required.
- Revelation (def. 4).
- any piece of literature belonging to a genre of Jewish or Christian writings that appeared from about 200 b.c. to the late Middle Ages and were assumed to reveal God’s ultimate purpose.
- a prophetic disclosure or revelation
- an event of great importance, violence, etc, like the events described in the Apocalypse
- (in the Vulgate and Douay versions of the Bible) the Book of Revelation
