Armageddon

American  

[ahr-muh-ged-n] / ˌɑr məˈgɛd n /

noun

• Armageddons
  plural

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

---

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.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• Armageddons
  plural

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”; see Megiddo ( def. )

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Armageddon Armageddons

Not that it would matter much during the depth of Armageddon, reviews of Bakkers’ food buckets were less than glowing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

But that might be the silliest insurance ever sold, akin to an Armageddon policy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026

I recently rewatched Armageddon, complete with Bruce Willis, oil drillers sent into space, and an asteroid the size of Texas racing toward Earth.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026

Shortly after midnight Friday, as Marc B. was leaving the courthouse in a police van, he shouted "Portugal Armageddon" toward journalists gathered outside.

From Barron's ● May 23, 2026

So, in a monumental piece of symbolism that defined his age, at the end of the Ring Wagner annihilated the gods altogether in his musical Armageddon.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

Musk, in particular, talks of war, pandemics, rebel AIs and asteroid Armageddons all making it vital for humans to become a multiplanetary species.

From The Guardian ● May 18, 2019

These are extreme cases, perhaps—barring Armageddons, you might expect people to know what they are called.

From The New Yorker ● Mar. 3, 2015

When we’re this close to two Armageddons, what does all the “grand bargain” talk mean?

From Slate ● Nov. 4, 2011

They marched in Athens and Nineveh and Marathon, fighting their various Armageddons.

From Time Magazine Archive

There has not been a presidential contest since Jackson's day without its Armageddons, its marching of Christian soldiers, its crosses of gold, its crowns of thorns.

From A Book of Prefaces by H. L. (Henry Louis) Mencken

Related Words

• annihilation
• cataclysm
• catastrophe
• devastation