Word
apotheosis
Phoneticsapoth·e·o·sis
US/əˌpɑθiˈoʊsəs/
UK/ɐpˌɒθiːˈəʊsɪs/
Definition
n. the highest point in the development of something, or its most perfect example. It can also mean treating a person like a god.
n. the elevation of a subject to divine status; the perfect form or highest point of a particular thing. Often used in literary or academic contexts to describe the culmination of a process.
Examples
“The new stadium is the apotheosis of modern architecture.”
“Many critics consider this symphony to be the apotheosis of the composer's career, representing his most refined musical ideas.”
“The film serves as the apotheosis of the noir genre, blending cynical dialogue with a visual style that has never been surpassed by subsequent directors.”
Examples
simple
“The new stadium is the apotheosis of modern architecture.”
contextual
“Many critics consider this symphony to be the apotheosis of the composer's career, representing his most refined musical ideas.”
complex
“The film serves as the apotheosis of the noir genre, blending cynical dialogue with a visual style that has never been surpassed by subsequent directors.”
Usage
Often used with 'of' to describe the peak of a quality or career.
Real-World Examples
“If you wanted to create an onscreen apotheosis of the middle-aged white guy — one we could all agree to get along with — he would probably be played by Steve Carell.” “The Savile Row customer buys not just a suit but an apotheosis of self, an exercise in a minor creative art concerned with making a man appear to be more than he really is: more handsome, more respectable, more dashing, more trustworthy — whatever the desired attribute.” “The tournament was Zidane’s apotheosis in terms of the purity of his playing.” “It has been cast as representative of the rootlessness of New Labour and, by architecture critic Owen Hatherley , as the doomed apotheosis of the fossil-fuel society.” Etymology
From Latin apotheōsis, from Ancient Greek ἀποθέωσις (apothéōsis), from the factitive verb ἀποθεόω (apotheóō, “deify”), which joins the intensive prefix ἀπο- (apo-) to θεός (theós, “God”) and the suffix -σις (-sis, “forms noun of action”). Travelling through the Hellenic stage, the term enters English as a surface composition of apo- + theo- + -sis.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Domain
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/apotheosis