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• holocaust
  holocaust

  noun

  a great or complete devastation or destruction, especially by fire.
• Holocaust
  Holocaust

  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.)

holocaust

American  

[hol-uh-kawst, hoh-luh-] / ˈhɒl əˌkɔst, ˈhoʊ lə- /

noun

• holocausts
  plural

1. a great or complete devastation or destruction, especially by fire.

   Synonyms:

   ravage, havoc, ruin, conflagration, inferno

2. a sacrifice completely consumed by fire; burnt offering.

3. Usually the Holocaust the systematic mass slaughter of European Jews in Nazi concentration camps during World War II.

4. any mass slaughter or reckless destruction of life.

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holocaust British  

/ ˈhɒləˌkɔːst /

noun

1. great destruction or loss of life or the source of such destruction, esp fire

2. 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

3. a rare word for burnt offering

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Holocaust Cultural  

1. 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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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• holocaustal
  adjective
• holocaustic
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• holocausts
  plural

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Etymology

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

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Explanation

The noun holocaust means "total destruction." However, this word has become inextricably connected with World War II and the mass murder of Jews by the Nazis (in this usage, Holocaust is capitalized). When holocaust entered the English language in the thirteenth century, it referred to burnt offerings described in the Old Testament. The original Greek word meant "burnt whole" (note the relationship to the word caustic). Since at least 1942, though, the word is most often used to describe the extermination of Jews by the Nazis. Some people object to the religious connotations of the word, though, preferring to use the Hebrew Shoah (catastrophe) instead.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

holocaust Holocaust holocausts

In the 1950s, it was a nuclear holocaust and in the 1960s a population bomb and deforestation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2025

And it will only get worse, as Frank and other biologists have argued about a "biological holocaust," unless we take action to protect wildlife, including bats.

From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2024

Signs were seen reading "Jews against genocide", and "The grandchild of a holocaust survivor says: Stop Gaza Holocaust."

From BBC ● Mar. 10, 2024

It is the 37th film in the film series, which usually uses Godzilla as a sober symbol of nuclear holocaust and atomic trauma.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 10, 2024

The anticipation and promise in her lolling hand are not altered by the holocaust.

From "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison

For decades, Germany has seen resolute support for Israel as a fundamental duty largely because of Nazi Germany's responsibility for the genocide of millions of European Jews during the Holocaust.

From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026

Gissing, who was rescued from Prague in 1939 at the age of 11, lost most of her family during the Holocaust and ended up settling in the UK after the war ended.

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

As a child of refugees from Hitler’s Germany and the descendent of a once-large family tree, many of whose branches were obliterated by the Holocaust, Mr. Moritz registered the diagnosis with mordant irony.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026

In an unusual moment of bipartisanship, Congress followed up by passing its own measure — the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act of 2025 — to further bolster such family claims.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026

His mother, his father, and his brothers all died in the Holocaust.

From "The Boy on the Wooden Box" by Leon Leyson

There can be no more holocausts; no more genocides; no more Stalinist gulags.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 14, 2019

Not only are adults guilty of perpetrating the worst of human sins—wars, holocausts, famines—we over-25s aren’t always all that great at other supposedly “adult” activities, like thinking ahead and extending empathy to others.

From Slate ● Sep. 10, 2018

“We have to be aware of the fact that holocausts are still going on and that we must do our part to protect people from genocide,” he said.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 27, 2018

Sikhs have survived multiple holocausts, and served alongside allies in WWI and II.

From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2012

Lands were voted to the conquerors, holocausts to Melkarth, three hundred gold crowns to the Suffet, and his partisans proposed to decree to him new prerogatives and honours.

From Salammbo by Gustave Flaubert

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Related Words

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