apocalypse
/əˈpɒkəlɪps/
"apocalypse" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“apocalypse” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #10,982 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #10,982
- frequency rank, English
- 10
- letters
- 15
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A revealing, especially a prophecy of, or the unfolding of, supernatural events.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | apocalypse |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /əˈpɒkəlɪps/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #10,982 |
| Misspellings tracked | 15 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “apocalypse” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for apocalypse is 10 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /əˈpɒkəlɪps/. Corpus data places it at rank #10,982 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for apocalypse, with forms such as "aopcalypse", "apcoalypse", and "apoaclypse". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English apocalips, from Latin apocalypsis, from Ancient Greek ἀποκάλυψις (apokálupsis, “revelation”, literally “uncovering”), from ἀποκαλύπτω (apokalúptō, “to reveal”), from ἀπό (apó, “back, away from”) + καλύπτω (kalúptō, “I cover”), + -σις (-s… The correct English form is apocalypse, spelled A-P-O-C-A-L-Y-P-S-E.
Definition
- 1A revealing, especially a prophecy of, or the unfolding of, supernatural events.
- 2A huge disaster; a cataclysmic event; destruction or ruin of large scope and scale.
- 3The unveiling of events prophesied in the Revelation; the second coming and the end of life on Earth; global destruction.
- 4The Book of Revelation.
Etymology
From Middle English apocalips, from Latin apocalypsis, from Ancient Greek ἀποκάλυψις (apokálupsis, “revelation”, literally “uncovering”), from ἀποκαλύπτω (apokalúptō, “to reveal”), from ἀπό (apó, “back, away from”) + καλύπτω (kalúptō, “I cover”), + -σις (-sis, suffix forming nouns). The sense evolution to "catastrophe, end of the world" stems from the depiction of such events in the biblical Book of Revelation, also called the Apocalypse of (i.e. Revelation to) John. The verb is from the noun and, in sense 1, a semantic loan from the etymonic Ancient Greek verb ἀποκαλύπτω (apokalúptō, “to reveal”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: aopcalypse,apcoalypse,apoaclypse,apocallypse,apocalpyse,apocalypes,apocalyppse,apocalypsse,apocalyspe,apocalyypse,apocaylpse,apoccalypse,apoclaypse,appocalypse,paocalypse
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of apocalypse - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “apocalypse”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-P-O-C-A-L-Y-P-S-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /əˈpɒkəlɪps/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.