holocaust
noun
[ ˈhɒləkɔːst ]
• destruction or slaughter on a mass scale, especially caused by fire or nuclear war.
• "a nuclear holocaust"
Similar:
cataclysm,
disaster,
catastrophe,
destruction,
devastation,
demolition,
annihilation,
ravaging,
inferno,
fire,
conflagration,
massacre,
slaughter,
mass murder,
carnage,
butchery,
extermination,
liquidation,
genocide,
ethnic cleansing,
• a Jewish sacrificial offering that was burned completely on an altar.
Origin:
Middle English: from Old French holocauste, via late Latin from Greek holokauston, from holos ‘whole’ + kaustos ‘burnt’ (from kaiein ‘burn’).
