holocaust

American  

[hol-uh-kawst, hoh-luh-] / ˈhɒl əˌkɔst, ˈhoʊ lə- /

noun

1. a great or complete devastation or destruction, especially by fire.

   Synonyms:

   ravage, havoc, ruin, conflagration, inferno

2. a sacrifice completely consumed by fire; burnt offering.

3. Usually the Holocaust the systematic mass slaughter of European Jews in Nazi concentration camps during World War II.

4. any mass slaughter or reckless destruction of life.

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holocaust British  

/ ˈhɒləˌkɔːst /

noun

1. great destruction or loss of life or the source of such destruction, esp fire

2. Also called: the Churban.   the Shoah.  (usually capital) the mass murder of Jews and members of many other ethnic, social, and political groups in continental Europe between 1940 and 1945 by the Nazi regime

3. a rare word for burnt offering

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Holocaust Cultural  

1. The killing of some six million Jews (see also Jews) by the Nazis during World War II. To the Nazis, the Holocaust was the “Final Solution” to the “Jewish problem,” and would help them establish a pure German master race. Much of the killing took place in concentration camps, such as Auschwitz and Dachau. (See Adolf Eichmann and Heinrich Himmler.)

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Other Word Forms

• holocaustal adjective
• holocaustic adjective

Etymology

Origin of holocaust

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English, from Late Latin holocaustum (Vulgate), from Greek holókauston (Septuagint), neuter of holókaustos “burnt whole”; holo-, caustic

Explanation

The noun holocaust means "total destruction." However, this word has become inextricably connected with World War II and the mass murder of Jews by the Nazis (in this usage, Holocaust is capitalized). When holocaust entered the English language in the thirteenth century, it referred to burnt offerings described in the Old Testament. The original Greek word meant "burnt whole" (note the relationship to the word caustic). Since at least 1942, though, the word is most often used to describe the extermination of Jews by the Nazis. Some people object to the religious connotations of the word, though, preferring to use the Hebrew Shoah (catastrophe) instead.

Example Sentences

Survivors honoured for their services to holocaust awareness in a series of portraits commissioned by the King were welcomed to the Palace, including 100-year-old Anita Lasker-Wallfisch and 98-year-old Helen Aronson.

From BBC • Jan. 27, 2026

In the 1950s, it was a nuclear holocaust and in the 1960s a population bomb and deforestation.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 2, 2025

In 1983, the nuclear holocaust film “The Day After,” also on ABC, was watched by more than 100 million people.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 19, 2024

But “Godzilla Minus One” returns to the essential nature of Godzilla as a sober symbol of nuclear holocaust and atomic trauma.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 15, 2024

Soon I picked up enough English to understand holocaust was in the air.

From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez

Related Words

• immolation
• inferno