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Armageddon

American  
[ahr-muh-ged-n] / ˌɑr məˈgɛd n /

noun

  1. (in the Bible) the place where a final battle will be fought between the forces of good and evil: probably so called in reference to the battlefield of Megiddo.

  2. the last and completely destructive battle.

    The arms race can lead to Armageddon.

  3. any great and crucial conflict.

Armageddon British  
/ ˌɑːməˈɡɛdən /

noun

  1. New Testament the final battle at the end of the world between the forces of good and evil, God against the kings of the earth (Revelation 16:16)

  2. a catastrophic and extremely destructive conflict, esp World War I viewed as this

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Armageddon Cultural  

  1. In the Book of Revelation, the site of the final and conclusive battle between good and evil, involving “the kings of the Earth and the whole world,” on the “great day of God Almighty.”

Discover More

Figuratively, “Armageddon” is any great battle or destructive confrontation.

Etymology

Origin of Armageddon

First recorded in 1580–90; Middle English Hermagedon, Old English Ermagedon, from Late Latin Hermagedōn, Armagedōn, from Greek Harmagedṓn, from Hebrew har măgiddō (măgiddōn) “mountain of Megiddo”; Megiddo ( def. )

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.

"It depends if they're preparing for the end of the world or Armageddon or they're preparing just basically for a barrage of missile fires as mostly the Israelis have," Hubbard said.

From Barron's • Mar. 12, 2026

Based on the state of the tariff world at that time, it looked like trade Armageddon had started.

From MarketWatch • Jan. 8, 2026

"They are basically Armageddon weapons - too powerful to be used unless you're happy to destroy the world," Mark Galeotti, a Russia scholar and long-time observer of Russian politics, told the BBC.

From BBC • Oct. 31, 2025

An anomaly: In the Factiva database of published news sources, 16,785 articles since 1980 have drawn a connection between artificial intelligence and the apocalypse or Armageddon.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 17, 2025

“You may as well wait for Armageddon as that.”

From "Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy" by Gary D. Schmidt

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.