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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

His social commentary encompassed war, protests, ghetto life, police brutality, pollution, and nuclear holocaust.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2025

As humans continue to encroach on our planet, we are driving a mass extinction that some experts call a "biological holocaust."

From Salon ● Apr. 16, 2024

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

From BBC ● Mar. 10, 2024

Soon I picked up enough English to understand holocaust was in the air.

From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez

It has resulted in more than 4,000 people, including many senior citizens and Holocaust survivors, being arrested for showing their support for the group, according to campaigners and police tallies.

From Barron's ● Nov. 1, 2026

Many of those arrested, including senior citizens and Holocaust survivors, have displayed signs at rallies reading: "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action."

From Barron's ● Oct. 31, 2026

This dates back to the earliest days of the Israeli state when the Haredim were a miniscule community of survivors struggling to rebuild from the near extinction of the Holocaust.

From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026

The pain of the Holocaust, however, endures in the lives of survivors and their descendants, and in our collective memory of the war.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

But we are watching a documentary about the Holocaust.

From "Ask the Passengers" by A.S. King

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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