Götterdämmerung
Americannoun
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German Mythology. the destruction of the gods and of all things in a final battle with evil powers: erroneous modern translation of the Old Icelandic Ragnarǫk, meaning “fate of the gods,” misunderstood as Ragnarökkr, meaning “twilight of the gods.”
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(italics) See The Ring of the Nibelung.
noun
Etymology
Origin of Götterdämmerung
1875–80; < German, equivalent to Götter, plural of Gott God + Dämmerung twilight
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.
The global financial crisis, which proved fatal for some competing institutions, was almost Mr. Blankfein’s Götterdämmerung as well.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026
I assumed that he would only choose all-out war in Ukraine if he felt he was threatened by outside forces in the Götterdämmerung of his regime.
From Slate ● Feb. 26, 2022
I would love to believe that there’s something not just pathetic but noble about Jeb’s self-immolation, and that he’s either deliberately or unconsciously choosing to stage the Bush family’s Götterdämmerung on a grand scale.
From Salon ● Oct. 31, 2015
This week an outstanding Götterdämmerung – the fourth and last opera in Wagner's Ring cycle – in the Gloucestershire village of Longborough was the latest to have us rubbing our eyes and ears in disbelief.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 21, 2012
Bay Lodge and Joe Stickney had given birth to the wholly new and original party of Conservative Christian Anarchists, to restore true poetry under the inspiration of the "Götterdämmerung."
From The Education of Henry Adams by Adams, Henry
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.
