apotheosis

[uh-poth-ee-oh-sis, ap-uh-thee-uh-sis]

noun

plural

apotheoses 

1. the elevation or exaltation of a person to the rank of a god.

2. the ideal example; epitome; quintessence.

   This poem is the apotheosis of lyric expression.

apotheosis

/ əˌpɒθɪˈəʊsɪs /

noun

1. the elevation of a person to the rank of a god; deification

2. glorification of a person or thing

3. a glorified ideal

4. the best or greatest time or event

   the apotheosis of De Niro's career

Word History and Origins

Origin of apotheosis¹

1570–80; < Late Latin < Greek. See apo-, theo-, -osis

Word History and Origins

Origin of apotheosis¹

C17: via Late Latin from Greek: deification, from theos god

Example Sentences

Which brings me to what I believe is the modern apotheosis of the genre.

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The day before Germany’s 1937 “degenerate” art exhibit debuted, Hitler opened another art show, also in Munich — an apotheosis of Germanic taste, the “great German art exhibition.”

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The ascendance of Donald Trump as the country’s first elected autocrat is the horrific apotheosis of television’s dominance over American politics and society.

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In Donald J. Trump, the various species of ugly American have reached their conjoined apotheosis.

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If that moment marked Trump’s nadir, today we are witnessing his apotheosis.

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Related Words

• embodiment 
• epitome 
• exemplar 
• ideal 
• quintessence