Gotterdammerung
- noun
- /ˈɡɒtərˌdæmərʊŋ/
- Literature
- However, most banks have gone along on the wild real estate and commercial lending rides because they knew there was little shelter likely in any monetary Gotterdammerung to arrive on these shores.
Examples
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The Gotterdammerung
Academic text (1992) -
It is impressive, despite the bizarre scenario and obvious special effects, a sort of Gotterdammerung Meets Dracula.
Fiction book (2000) -
My Gotterdammerung.
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"Oh, Gotterdammerung!" said Smedley, disabling the subtitles so that nobody would be offended.
Fiction book (2001) -
Since it is part of German nature always to see the Gotterdammerung side of things, all these problems are especially true for Germany—so they say.
Academic text (1996) -
To put it another way, a Gotterdammerung immolating Western influence is preferable to what was cobbled together at Versailles and which has limped along as neither fish nor fowl for some one hundred years.
Blog text (2) -
Obviously, the Gotterdammerung is of a much more complex nature and in every way—harmonically, dramatically, in length, in every way, much more complicated than Rheingold, but every time I started the next cycle, I really was able to start Rheingold, as it were, without the knowledge, if you want, or without the feeling that I was coming to Rheingold.
Academic text (1998) -
The convoluted plots robbed LOST of a quiet fade to black ending of THE SOPRANOS; and at least there wasn't that cathartic gotterdammerung of the OZ finale (well, except for Michael and Mr. Eko?).
Blog text (18) -
The fall of the company was a Gotterdammerung, marking the end of an era in the industry.
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Many believe that the political turmoil could lead to a Gotterdammerung for the current administration.
Synonyms
A great disaster that destroys the world, often caused by a divine power
A situation that seems like a disaster but is often not as bad
The place in the Bible where the final battle between good and evil will happen
The last day when the world ends or everything is destroyed
A final battle in Norse myths that destroys the gods and ends the world
A Norse myth about the final battle that destroys the gods
An event that kills most people or destroys life on Earth
How Catastrophic
- Literature
- Literature
Surface Forms
Etymology
Gotterdammerung comes from German parts Götter ('gods') and Dämmerung ('twilight'), and it literally means 'the twilight of the gods'. So the image of the gods' final twilight helps you remember the meaning: Gotterdammerung is used for a great, final destruction or a complete collapse, like the end of the world in myth or the fall of an empire.