apotheosis

American  

[uh-poth-ee-oh-sis, ap-uh-thee-uh-sis] / əˌpɒθ iˈoʊ sɪs, ˌæp əˈθi ə sɪs /

noun

apotheoses plural

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.

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apotheosis British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• apotheoses
  plural

Etymology

Origin of apotheosis

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

Explanation

If your teacher says the term paper you handed in last week is a work of genius that sets a new gold standard for the school, he's telling you your work is the apotheosis of term papers. The epitome. Perfection. Hidden in the middle of apotheosis you'll find the Greek theos, meaning god. (Theology, the study of religion, has the same root.) Combine theos with apo "from" and you get a person, place, or thing that is so out-of-this-world amazing that it seems as if it's "from God." It's divine. You could make the assertion that Leonardo da Vinci was the apotheosis of genius and that the Mona Lisa is the apotheosis of all his paintings.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

apotheosis apotheoses

They called it the “Attitude Era,” and in retrospect it represented the absolute apotheosis of pre-millennium x-treme marketing.

From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026

The use of the harp stood out, as did the harpsichord for Manon’s apotheosis as a courtesan in Act 3 and an organ for the church of St. Sulpice.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 17, 2026

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.”

From Los Angeles Times ● May 7, 2025

Borglum believed the American political system was the apotheosis of human civilization, and he wanted his sculpture to stand alongside the Parthenon and pyramids as testaments to grand civilizations and cultures.

From Slate ● Mar. 13, 2025

After several rounds of refinement in the Langley wind tunnels, the Mustang achieved its apotheosis with the P-51D.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly

And the things it forgets, the apotheoses and apocalypses it lets sift through its mesh!

From The Guardian ● Oct. 15, 2016

They are their own apotheoses, their own parodies.

From Time Magazine Archive

Some have filled their skies with beings as little aerial as possible, or apotheoses of the Virgin and sundry saints.

From The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 12, No. 341, November 15, 1828 by Various

Thus did flattery renew the apotheoses of the Caesars of ancient Rome.

From The Court of the Empress Josephine by Perry, Thomas Sergeant

Eagle of the apotheoses, what breath of Erebus has driven thee to me? or, flying from the Campus Martius, dost thou bring to me the soul of the last of the Emperors?

From The Temptation of St. Antony or A Revelation of the Soul by Flaubert, Gustave

Related Words

• embodiment
• epitome
• exemplar
• ideal
• quintessence