apocalyptic.

1. Suggesting or involving overwhelming devastation or the apparent end of an existing world or order.

2. Relating to religious revelation or visionary literature concerning hidden realities, judgment, or the final destiny of the world.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• an apocalyptic landscape
• apocalyptic destruction

On the page

The apocalyptic landscape left no recognizable road through the district.

The novel’s apocalyptic destruction was shown through what its survivors could no longer name.

Usage notes

Primary category: horror. Forms: Comparative more apocalyptic; superlative most apocalyptic where gradation is meaningful. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.