calamitous

[kuh-lam-i-tuhs]

adjective

1. causing or involving calamity; disastrous.

   a calamitous defeat.

   Synonyms: devastating, ruinous, catastrophic
   Antonyms: advantageous, beneficial

calamitous

/ kəˈlæmɪtəs /

adjective

1. causing, involving, or resulting in a calamity; disastrous

Other Word Forms

• calamitously adverb
• calamitousness noun
• uncalamitous adjective
• uncalamitously adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of calamitous¹

First recorded in 1535–45; calamit(y) + -ous

Example Sentences

Authorities have meanwhile launched a crackdown on dissent at home that critics say carries echoes of the Soviet era -- even though it is a far cry from the calamitous bloodshed perpetrated by Stalin.

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The Peronists, for their part, offer little except a return to the calamitous past.

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“You come here for a unique window into this pivotal calamitous moment that wiped out the dinosaurs and made the modern world as we know it,” Mr. Lacovara says.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The immediate cause of his calamitous fin de régime is now clear.

Read more on BBC

Their problems on the square continued with the calamitous run out of Gill, who at times in the series has seemed immovable.

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Related Words

• adverse 
• cataclysmic 
• catastrophic 
• deadly 
• devastating 
• dire 
• fatal 
• grievous 
• heartbreaking 
• lamentable 
• pernicious 
• regrettable 
• ruinous 
• unfavorable 
• unfortunate 
• woeful