apocalyptic

1. Of or relating to an apocalypse:
   1. not comparablelifestyleRevelatory; prophetic.

      Let him go and make, and burn, a pile or two [of bricks] with his own hands; he will thereby receive apocalyptic visions of a nature novel to his soul.

      1876, John Ruskin, “Letter LXIV”, in Fors Clavigera. Letters to the Workmen and Labourers of Great Britain, volume VI, Orpington, Kent: George Allen, →OCLC, page 116

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      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."

      1985, Donald A. Hagner, Apocalyptic Motifs in the Gospel of Matthew: Continuity and Discontinuity, page 92

      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.

      2002, Peter W. Smith, In the Day of the Lord: The Exciting and Promised Fulfillment, page 7

      “It’s true that as I walk out of my house in a nice quiet street and go to a nice cafe five minutes’ walk away, I have no reason to have these apocalyptic musings.”

      2019 November 3, Andrew Anthony, quoting David Mitchell, “David Mitchell: ‘I have no reason to have these apocalyptic musings’”, in The Observer, →ISSN

   2. figurativelynot comparableCatastrophic; disastrous.

      These bookends house a wealth of apocalyptic stories. The Bible, like some street preacher with a sign, shouts, "The end is near!"

      2010, Philip Leroy Culbertson, Elaine Mary Wainwright, Bible in Popular Culture, page 184

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      For the first time since the show began, a sense of utter loneliness overwhelmed me, a bitter despair at the uselessness of individual effort in this gigantic tragedy of apocalyptic destruction.

      1919, Arthur Hamilton Gibbs, Gun Fodder: The Diary of Four Years of War, Little, Brown, page 276

      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, […]"

      2001, Richard A. Horsley, Hearing the Whole Story: The Politics of Plot in Mark's Gospel, page 122

      Life in the SCP universe continually hangs by a thread, threatened constantly by the existence of a number of dangerous and apocalyptic anomalies. These threats are countered and contained by the existence of organizations such as the SCP Foundation or the Global Occult Coalition.

      2019 January 14, “Exploring the SCP Foundation: SCP-2935 - O, Death” (0:07 from the start), in The Exploring Series, archived from the original on 25 Mar 2023

      […]and the pillar of smoke which had recently begun to dissipate, as many of the fires amidships had been smothered by the onrushing water, was replaced by a vast mushroom cloud of steam, smoke, flame, and debris as the magazines detonated. In the pall of this apocalyptic destruction, the U.S. fleet takes stock.

      2021 May 5, Drachinifel, 42:53 from the start, in Battle of Samar - What if TF34 was there?, archived from the original on 19 Aug 2022

      A stark disconnect between reality and rhetoric surfaced on Tuesday as U.S. forces continued their methodical strikes on military targets in Iran even as their commander in chief raised his steady stream of threats directed at Iran to apocalyptic levels.

      2026 April 7, Helene Cooper, Julian E. Barnes, “Trump’s Threats Collide With U.S. Military’s Reality”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

2. not comparablePortending a future apocalypse (disaster, devastation, or doom).

   Submissions on the part of gay teachers and students and organizations were countered by apocalyptic denunciations on the part of Bible-toting mothers and fathers expertly organized by the right.

   1981 February 14, Alexander Wilson, “The New Right Attacks Childhood Sexuality: A Canadian Perspective”, in Gay Community News, volume 8, number 29, page 6

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   Shortly after the publication of When Prophecy Fails, Hardyck and Braden (1962) investigated an apocalyptic group of Pentecostals to see if the failed apocalypse would result in enduring conviction and proselytization, but it did not.

   2025 October 13, Thomas Kelly, “Debunking “When Prophecy Fails””, in Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences

3. not comparableCatachresis for apoplectic.

   He was apocalyptically furious.

plural apocalyptics

1. One who predicts apocalypse.

   Synonyms: apocalypticist, doomsayer