disastrous

[ dih-zas-truhs, -zah-struhs ]

adjective

1. causing great distress or injury; ruinous; very unfortunate; calamitous:

   The rain and cold proved disastrous to his health.

2. Archaic. foreboding disaster.

Other Words From

• dis·astrous·ly adverb
• dis·astrous·ness noun
• nondis·astrous adjective
• nondis·astrous·ly adverb
• nondis·astrous·ness noun
• predis·astrous adjective
• predis·astrous·ly adverb
• quasi-dis·astrous adjective
• quasi-dis·astrous·ly adverb
• undis·astrous adjective
• undis·astrous·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of disastrous¹

1580–90; < Middle French desastreux, Italian disastroso. See disaster, -ous

Example Sentences

Decades of rushing to stamp out flames that naturally clear out small trees and undergrowth have had disastrous unintended consequences.

From MIT Technology Review

If the TV doesn’t know exactly how long your soundbar will take, it may send the video before the soundbar has finished, leading to a disastrous mismatch of the mouths on screen.

From Popular-Science

Furthermore, in all three of these cases, poorly informed decisions set a disastrous chain of events in motion.

From Search Engine Land

Such publication often had disastrous consequences for the person “outed” in print.

From No Straight News

The disease would likely spread, which would be disastrous for many people beyond just you.

From No Straight News

He knew that a public appearance with Duke could be disastrous.

From The Daily Beast

At any moment, the slightest loss in concentration could see a disastrous tumble.

From The Daily Beast

The Ebola pandemic in West Africa is having a disastrous effect on tourism on the whole continent.

From The Daily Beast

But the consequences of a filing would have been disastrous.

From The Daily Beast

Another memorable, if not disastrous, misstep, of course, was his turn as Batman in Batman and Robin.

From The Daily Beast

The promises of Bellamy and Planner were as far from fulfilment as ever; their performance as vigorous and disastrous as at first.

From Project Gutenberg

And new consequences, still more disastrous than any she had foreseen, presented themselves one after another.

From Project Gutenberg

The following might have been more disastrous in its results; the same parties were concerned.

From Project Gutenberg

One way alone offered—to break the disastrous contracts by payments made down without delay.

From Project Gutenberg

Besides, the storm that had threatened on the night of his first visit had proved a most disastrous one.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• adverse
• calamitous
• cataclysmic
• catastrophic
• destructive
• dire
• dreadful
• fatal
• fateful
• harmful
• ill-fated
• ruinous
• terrible
• tragic
• unfavorable
• unfortunate