cataclysm
any violent upheaval, especially one of a social or political nature.
Physical Geography. a sudden and violent physical action producing changes in the earth's surface.
an extensive flood; deluge.
Origin of cataclysm
1synonym study For cataclysm
Words that may be confused with cataclysm
- cataclysm , catechism
Words Nearby cataclysm
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use cataclysm in a sentence
In the cataclysm that followed, the survival of republican government indeed was in peril.
The Right Wing Screams for the Wambulance Over Gay Marriage Ruling | Walter Olson | October 13, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe reader feels the personal cataclysm of four kibbutznik paratroopers as their universe falls from grace.
Halevi's 'Like Dreamers' Is the Big Book On Israel We've Been Waiting For | Don Futterman | October 8, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTThat generic description of right-wing economics, however, is too vague to capture specific cataclysm that occurred in 2008.
Obama’s Democratic Convention Speech: Explain the Financial Crisis | Peter Beinart | September 3, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTAnd I wanted to know what (besides the obvious cataclysm of 9/11) had turned him into such a radical voice on the subject.
Bachmann, Gaffney, and the GOP’s Anti-Muslim Culture of Conspiracy | Jonathan Kay | July 23, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTThe poet remains coolly detached: a circumspect observer in the face of cataclysm.
I see unutterable defeat, the success of the rebellion, a great catastrophe, a moral and physical cataclysm.
"Shiloh" as Seen by a Private Soldier | Warren OlneyBack had they gone to town, and then came the cataclysm of noon.
Warrior Gap | Charles KingThe aftermath of the war is a spiritual cataclysm such as civilized mankind has never before known.
Introduction to the Science of Sociology | Robert E. ParkThe legend begins with a deluge myth; a cataclysm ended a period of human existence.
Myth, Ritual, and Religion, Vol. 1 | Andrew LangNothing short of a seismic cataclysm—an earthquake, in fact—could deter a San Francisco audience after that.
Mark Twain, A Biography, 1835-1910, Complete | Albert Bigelow Paine
British Dictionary definitions for cataclysm
/ (ˈkætəˌklɪzəm) /
a violent upheaval, esp of a political, military, or social nature
a disastrous flood; deluge
geology another name for catastrophe (def. 4)
Origin of cataclysm
1Derived forms of cataclysm
- cataclysmic or cataclysmal, adjective
- cataclysmically, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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