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• revelation
  revelation

  noun

  the act of revealing or disclosing; disclosure.
• Revelation
  Revelation

  noun

  (popularly, often plural) the last book of the New Testament, containing visionary descriptions of heaven, of conflicts between good and evil, and of the end of the world

revelation

American  

[rev-uh-ley-shuhn] / ˌrɛv əˈleɪ ʃən /

noun

• revelations
  plural

1. the act of revealing or disclosing; disclosure.

   The revelation of previously hidden facts about the group’s activities changed the situation completely.

   Synonyms:

   exposure, divulgence, admission

2. something revealed or disclosed, especially a striking disclosure, such as of something not before realized.

   Her memoir contained several fascinating revelations about her love life.

3. Theology.

   1. God's disclosure of Himself and His will to His creatures.

   2. an instance of such communication or disclosure.

   3. something thus communicated or disclosed.

   4. something that contains such disclosure, as the Bible.

4. Also called The Revelation of St. John the Divine. Revelation. the last book in the New Testament; the Apocalypse. Rev.

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revelation ¹ British  

/ ˌrɛvəˈleɪʃən /

noun

1. the act or process of disclosing something previously secret or obscure, esp something true

2. a fact disclosed or revealed, esp in a dramatic or surprising way

3. Christianity

   1. God's disclosure of his own nature and his purpose for mankind, esp through the words of human intermediaries

   2. something in which such a divine disclosure is contained, such as the Bible

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Revelation ² British  

/ ˌrɛvəˈleɪʃən /

noun

1. Also called: the Apocalypse, the Revelation of Saint John the Divine. (popularly, often plural) the last book of the New Testament, containing visionary descriptions of heaven, of conflicts between good and evil, and of the end of the world

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonrevelation
  noun
• prerevelation
  noun
• revelational
  adjective
• unrevelational
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• revelations
  plural

Etymology

Origin of revelation

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English revelacion, revelacioun, from Anglo-French revelaciun, revelacioun, revelatiun, from Middle French revelacion, revelation, from Late Latin revēlātiōn- (stem of revēlātiō ), equivalent to Latin revēlā(tus) , past participle of revēlāre “to remove the cover from, unveil, lift the lid of, uncover” + -tiōn- verbal noun suffix dentoting the action of the verb; see also reveal, -tion; cf. apocalypse ( def. )

Explanation

Discovering that you had a long-lost sister would definitely be a revelation, or a surprising realization. Finding out she had been living in the house next door for years would be an even more startling revelation! It is not a surprise that the word revelation is related to the word reveal, because revealing is the action of showing something that was previously covered up or unknown. You can even use both words in the same sentence: "You might find it a revelation if someone revealed to you that your house was sitting on top of a gold mine!"

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

revelation Revelation revelations

And in the opening line of his latest book—his 54th—he makes a distressing revelation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

She was floored by the revelation and, not least, the excruciating pain she was now beginning to fully understand.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

The revelation came in a blog post late Wednesday from the AI giant, which shared what it called a “new framework for tracking, investigating and disclosing instances of model misalignment.”

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 17, 2026

There was no single revelation, just a lot of weeknight pans of mushrooms that gradually got better as I figured out what I liked.

From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2026

People stumbled into this revelation all the time.

From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro

Revelation, God’s relation to the human, is an even more intimate shock: not a doctrine delivered, but an address, an encounter in which the “I” discovers itself summoned as a “you.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 6, 2026

Revelation after revelation about Andrew's behaviour has prompted an unusual level of chatter.

From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2025

Christian Zionism: Primarily an evangelical doctrine, originating in 19th-century British premillennialism, that regards supporting the State of Israel as crucial to fulfilling prophecies in the Book of Revelation.

From Salon ● May 26, 2024

Mr. Kinley’s new book, “God’s Grand Finale,” details last-days events in the New Testament’s Book of Revelation.

From Washington Times ● Nov. 6, 2023

That evening he read aloud from the Bible, familiar passages from Isaiah, Luke, and the Book of Revelation, about wars and rumors of wars.

From "Educated" by Tara Westover

Gray added that the department was taking steps to avoid any similar revelations happening in the future.

From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026

The investigation sparked by Kao’s revelations is dead.

From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026

The military’s reasoning was that leaking some of the information about these interplanetary conflicts might reduce the shock to the public the day the real revelations came.

From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026

Similarly, many of the revelations in “NAZA,” from “No Other Land” Oscar winners Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, were reported in producer The Guardian in the course of filming.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026

But despite these revelations, he was an extremely damaging witness, for the judge found him reliable and believable, and his testimony incriminated nearly all of us.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

Related Words

• announcement
• discovery
• epiphany
• leak
• news