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• revelation
  revelation

  noun

  the act of revealing or disclosing; disclosure.
• Revelation
  Revelation

  noun

  (popularly, often plural) the last book of the New Testament, containing visionary descriptions of heaven, of conflicts between good and evil, and of the end of the world

revelation

American  

[rev-uh-ley-shuhn] / ˌrɛv əˈleɪ ʃən /

noun

• revelations
  plural

1. the act of revealing or disclosing; disclosure.

   The revelation of previously hidden facts about the group’s activities changed the situation completely.

   Synonyms:

   exposure, divulgence, admission

2. something revealed or disclosed, especially a striking disclosure, such as of something not before realized.

   Her memoir contained several fascinating revelations about her love life.

3. Theology.

   1. God's disclosure of Himself and His will to His creatures.

   2. an instance of such communication or disclosure.

   3. something thus communicated or disclosed.

   4. something that contains such disclosure, as the Bible.

4. Also called The Revelation of St. John the Divine.  Revelation. the last book in the New Testament; the Apocalypse. Rev.

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revelation ¹ British  

/ ˌrɛvəˈleɪʃən /

noun

1. the act or process of disclosing something previously secret or obscure, esp something true

2. a fact disclosed or revealed, esp in a dramatic or surprising way

3. Christianity

   1. God's disclosure of his own nature and his purpose for mankind, esp through the words of human intermediaries

   2. something in which such a divine disclosure is contained, such as the Bible

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Revelation ² British  

/ ˌrɛvəˈleɪʃən /

noun

1. Also called: the Apocalypse.   the Revelation of Saint John the Divine.  (popularly, often plural) the last book of the New Testament, containing visionary descriptions of heaven, of conflicts between good and evil, and of the end of the world

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonrevelation
  noun
• prerevelation
  noun
• revelational
  adjective
• unrevelational
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• revelations
  plural

Etymology

Origin of revelation

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English revelacion, revelacioun, from Anglo-French revelaciun, revelacioun, revelatiun, from Middle French revelacion, revelation, from Late Latin revēlātiōn- (stem of revēlātiō ), equivalent to Latin revēlā(tus) , past participle of revēlāre “to remove the cover from, unveil, lift the lid of, uncover” + -tiōn- verbal noun suffix dentoting the action of the verb; see also reveal, -tion; cf. apocalypse ( def. )

Explanation

Discovering that you had a long-lost sister would definitely be a revelation, or a surprising realization. Finding out she had been living in the house next door for years would be an even more startling revelation! It is not a surprise that the word revelation is related to the word reveal, because revealing is the action of showing something that was previously covered up or unknown. You can even use both words in the same sentence: "You might find it a revelation if someone revealed to you that your house was sitting on top of a gold mine!"

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

revelation Revelation revelations

Liam's newfound professionalism is probably the biggest revelation in the documentary, scripted by Peaky Blinders' creator Steven Knight, and shot by directors Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace.

From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026

None of this was a new revelation in 2026.

From Salon ● Sep. 5, 2026

That was the revelation that the national debt had reached $40 trillion.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026

“Petra” depicts the elegant, salmon-colored pillared temple dramatically seen, like a sudden revelation, through a crack in a dark stone barrier.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026

Maybe she was sensitive in the wake of Ruby’s certainty of doom, and the revelation that she herself shared it.

From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor

In 1988, he and his second wife, Alice Yelen Gitter, discovered Sister Gertrude Morgan, a self-taught artist and Christian street preacher whose paintings sometimes interpreted the Bible’s Book of Revelation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 23, 2026

Revelation after revelation about Andrew's behaviour has prompted an unusual level of chatter.

From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2025

On one hand, there’s the pre-millennial interpretation of the Book of Revelation shared by most evangelical Christians: The world gets worse and worse until the day of Rapture and the last judgment.

From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2024

Mr. Kinley’s new book, “God’s Grand Finale,” details last-days events in the New Testament’s Book of Revelation.

From Washington Times ● Nov. 6, 2023

But he looks like something out of the Book of Revelation.

From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz

Similarly, many of the revelations in “NAZA,” from “No Other Land” Oscar winners Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, were reported in producer The Guardian in the course of filming.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026

Miguel Ángel Pérez Triano, the central government's delegate in Ceuta, addressed the revelations about the text messages the CNI had sent to his office the day before the mass crossing.

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026

The revelations, from interviews with 80 former staffers, begin early and continue throughout.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

The revelations about the discussions, from someone familiar with the rulemaking process, come as a separate anonymous federal employee filed a whistleblower disclosure with U.S.

From Salon ● Sep. 3, 2026

Sing how the typewriter hummed and trembled at her psychiatric revelations!

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides

Related Words

• announcement
• discovery
• epiphany
• leak
• news