Götterdämmerung
Americannoun
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German Mythology. the destruction of the gods and of all things in a final battle with evil powers: erroneous modern translation of the Old Icelandic Ragnarǫk, meaning “fate of the gods,” misunderstood as Ragnarökkr, meaning “twilight of the gods.”
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(italics) See The Ring of the Nibelung.
noun
Etymology
Origin of Götterdämmerung
1875–80; < German, equivalent to Götter, plural of Gott God + Dämmerung twilight
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The global financial crisis, which proved fatal for some competing institutions, was almost Mr. Blankfein’s Götterdämmerung as well.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026
The war state is a Götterdämmerung, as Dwight Macdonald writes, "without the gods."
From Salon • May 7, 2023
I assumed that he would only choose all-out war in Ukraine if he felt he was threatened by outside forces in the Götterdämmerung of his regime.
From Slate • Feb. 26, 2022
Words, concepts and images that pervade his work have become commonplace signifiers in contemporary discourse: Valhalla, Liebestod, Valkyrie, Gesamtkunstwerk, Flying Dutchman, Nibelung, Brünnhilde, Götterdämmerung, Siegfried, Leitmotiv, endless melody, to name just a few.
From New York Times • Sep. 16, 2020
The repertory consisted of "La Traviata," "Tannhäuser" "Die Meistersinger," "Aïda," "Lohengrin," "Il Barbiere," "Faust," "Der Fliegende Holländer," "Die Walküre," "Siegfried," "Götterdämmerung," and "Les Huguenots."
From Chapters of Opera Being historical and critical observations and records concerning the lyric drama in New York from its earliest days down to the present time by Krehbiel, Henry Edward
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
