Antichrist

[ an-ti-krahyst ]

noun

, Theology.

1. a particular personage or power, variously identified or explained, who is conceived of as appearing in the world as the principal antagonist of Christ.
2. (sometimes lowercase) an opponent of Christ; a person or power antagonistic to Christ.
3. (often lowercase) a disbeliever in Christ.
4. (often lowercase) a false Christ.

Antichrist

/ ˈæntɪˌkraɪst /

noun

1. New Testament the antagonist of Christ, expected by early Christians to appear and reign over the world until overthrown at Christ's Second Coming
2. sometimes not capital an enemy of Christ or Christianity

Antichrist

1. A person mentioned in the New Testament as an enemy of Jesus , who will appear before the Second Coming and win over many of Jesus' followers. The Antichrist is often identified with a beast described in the Book of Revelation , whom God destroys just before the final defeat of Satan .

Notes

Since the New Testament was written, people have frequently tried to prove that an individual human being was the Antichrist. Some of the candidates have been the Roman emperors Nero and Caligula and the modern dictators Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin .

Derived Forms

• ˌAntiˈchristian, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of Antichrist¹

before 1150; Middle English, Old English < Late Latin Antichrīstus < Late Greek Antíchrīstos the Antichrist. See anti-, Christ

Example Sentences

Now, she’s uprooted to Rome with her family, including her son Timothy — the purported Antichrist — whom she now has care over.

From Los Angeles Times

“I giggle at the thought of you waking up at 3 a.m.,” she tells her nemesis and baby daddy, Leland Townsend, “because the Antichrist needs changing.”

From New York Times

In the new season, he is raising his biological son — he nefariously arranged the baby’s conception earlier in the series — and believes the child is the Antichrist.

From New York Times

The events leading up to the hellish baby swap that brought the Antichrist into the world are dramatized.

From Seattle Times

If the “Omen” franchise left us with memorable tropes — the boy Antichrist, lurking among us; those dreaded three repeated numbers — the content of the movies themselves did little else.

From New York Times