meaning - What is the opposite of an epiphany?


I think of an epiphany as a "eureka moment" as in a goldminer crying out, "Eureka!" upon discovering a vein of gold (I'm a native Californian (and former resident of Eureka), so that example comes readily to mind).


What about the opposite, though - an "Oh, no!" moment? Such as, "What I thought was gold turned out to be iron pyrite."?


Is there a word for it - an apiphany? Antipiphany? Malpiphany*? Or...???



  • Since "epiphany" seems to refer to a good sound (epiphone), would the opposite be a bad sound?



Answer



Epiphany has nothing to do with phones—it is etymologically an ‘out-showing’ or manifestation, and until recently was used primarily for the manifestation of a divine being: most often, as in the Feast of the Epiphany, the manifestation of Christ to the world at large.


The modern sense derives primarily from the work of James Joyce (though he had predecessors), who employed ‘epiphany’ to designate moments of revelation and insight, “a sudden spiritual manifestation, whether in the vulgarity of speech or of gesture or in a memorable phase of the mind itself.”


But such an epiphany need not be a happy or triumphant moment; it is just as likely to be an insight into catastrophe or horror or even mere banality.


So in the sense in which you use epiphany, epiphany is its own antonym!


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