holocaust

[ hol-uh-kawst, hoh-luh- ]

See synonyms for holocaust on Thesaurus.com

noun

a great or complete devastation or destruction, especially by fire.
a sacrifice completely consumed by fire; burnt offering.

Usually the Holocaust . the systematic mass slaughter of European Jews in Nazi concentration camps during World War II.
any mass slaughter or reckless destruction of life.

Origin of holocaust

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English, from Late Latin holocaustum (Vulgate), from Greek holókauston (Septuagint), neuter of holókaustos “burnt whole”; see holo-, caustic

Other words for holocaust

1	inferno, conflagration, ruin, havoc, ravage

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Other words from holocaust

hol·o·caus·tal, adjective
hol·o·caus·tic, adjective

Words Nearby holocaust

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use holocaust in a sentence

Several of them disputed the figure of six million Jewish deaths in the holocaust.
The Louisiana Racists Who Courted Steve Scalise | Jason Berry | January 3, 2015 | THE DAILY BEAST
In the Jewish community, Christians who saved Jews from the holocaust are known as “righteous gentiles.”
The Straight Hero of Cameroon’s Gays | Jay Michaelson | December 10, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
However, Brunner was not the only perpetrator of the holocaust mooching around the streets of the Syrian capital.
Hitler’s Henchmen in Arabia | Guy Walters | December 7, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
That word “denialism” is particularly profane, with its unsubtle invocation of the holocaust.
Why It Was Right to Question Rolling Stone’s U-VA Rape Story | Michael Moynihan | December 5, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Belzberg had grown up learning about WWII and visiting holocaust museums since she was a young girl.
The Man Who Invented the Word ‘Genocide’ | Nina Strochlic | November 19, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST

He shall offer the lamb, and the sacrifice, and the oil morning by morning: an everlasting holocaust.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version | Various
Next day the ceremony was to be continued by a holocaust of pigs.
Celebrated Travels and Travellers | Jules Verne
What difference between the holocaust of a witch and that of two vile criminals?
A German Pompadour | Marie Hay
Indeed, it was the grave of the soldier boy who had been the first to fall in the terrible holocaust of war.
The Broken Sword | Dennison Worthington
At a guess, McAllen had constructed it as a secure personal retreat in the event of something like a nuclear holocaust.
Gone Fishing | James H. Schmitz

British Dictionary definitions for holocaust

holocaust

/ (ˈhɒləˌkɔːst) /

noun

great destruction or loss of life or the source of such destruction, esp fire
Also called: the Churban, the Shoah (usually capital) the mass murder of Jews and members of many other ethnic, social, and political groups in continental Europe between 1940 and 1945 by the Nazi regime

a rare word for burnt offering

Origin of holocaust

C13: from Late Latin holocaustum whole burnt offering, from Greek holokauston, from holo- + kaustos, from kaiein to burn

Derived forms of holocaust

holocaustal or holocaustic, adjective

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

Cultural definitions for Holocaust

Holocaust

[ (hol-uh-kawst, hoh-luh-kawst) ]

The killing of some six million Jews (see also Jews) by the Nazis during World War II. To the Nazis, the Holocaust was the “Final Solution” to the “Jewish problem,” and would help them establish a pure German master race. Much of the killing took place in concentration camps, such as Auschwitz and Dachau. (See Adolf Eichmann and Heinrich Himmler.)

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