Apocalyptic

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /əˈpÉ’.kÉ™.lɪp.tɪk/

Origin

From Ancient Greek ἀποκαλυπτικός ("revelatory"), from ἀποκαλύπτειν ("to reveal, uncover"), from ἀπό ("off") + καλύπτειν ("to cover").

Full definition of apocalyptic

Adjective

1. Of or relating to an apocalypse:
1. Of or relating to an apocalypse a revelation, revelatory; prophetic.
• 1985, Donald A. Hagner, Apocalyptic Motifs in the Gospel of Matthew: Continuity and Discontinuity, quoted in 2007 by Jonathan T. Pennington in Heaven and Earth in the Gospel of Matthew, page 92:"From beginning to end, and throughout, the Gospel makes such frequent use of apocalyptic motifs and the apocalyptic viewpoint that it deserves to be called the apocalyptic Gospel."
• 2002, Peter W. Smith, In the Day of the Lord: The Exciting and Promised Fulfillment, page 7:This was because apocalyptic stories — from the Greek word apohalupsis which means “reveal” — uses the vocabulary of symbols and numbers and contains concealed messages that secular listeners cannot comprehend.
2. Of or relating to an apocalypse a disaster.
• 2001, Richard A. Horsley, Hearing the whole story: the politics of plot in Mark's gospel, page 122:In fact, interpreters commonly declare that Mark is an "apocalyptic" Gospel. When they read Jesus' long speech toward the end of the Gospel (chap. 13), they even detect a veritable "apocalypse": "Wars and rumors of wars, ..."
• 2010, Philip Leroy Culbertson, Elaine Mary Wainwright, Bible in popular culture, page 184:These bookends house a wealth of apocalyptic stories. The Bible, like some street preacher with a sign, shouts, “The end is near!”
2. Portending a future apocalypse (disaster, devastation, or doom).

Antonyms

• nonapocalyptic

Derived terms

• apocalyptical
• apocalypticist
• apocalypticalist rare
• post-apocalyptic

Noun

1. One who predicts apocalypse.

Synonyms

• apocalypticist
• doomsayer