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: primarily, 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!

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!