disaster
Americannoun
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a calamitous event, especially one occurring suddenly and causing great loss of life, damage, or hardship, as a flood, airplane crash, or business failure.
- Synonyms:
- affliction, adversity, reverse, blow, accident, mishap, misadventure, misfortune, mischance
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Obsolete. an unfavorable aspect of a star or planet.
noun
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an occurrence that causes great distress or destruction
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a thing, project, etc, that fails or has been ruined
Synonym Usage
Disaster, calamity, catastrophe, cataclysm refer to adverse happenings often occurring suddenly and unexpectedly. A disaster may be caused by carelessness, negligence, bad judgment, or the like, or by natural forces, as a hurricane or flood: a railroad disaster. Calamity suggests great affliction, either personal or general; the emphasis is on the grief or sorrow caused: the calamity of losing a child. Catastrophe refers especially to the tragic outcome of a personal or public situation; the emphasis is on the destruction or irreplaceable loss: the catastrophe of a defeat in battle. Cataclysm, physically an earth-shaking change, refers to a personal or public upheaval of unparalleled violence: a cataclysm that turned his life in a new direction.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of disaster
First recorded in 1585–95; from Middle French desastre, from Italian disastro, from dis- dis- 1 + astro “star” (from Latin astrum, from Greek ástron )
Explanation
An earthquake, an oil spill, an economic collapse, a party with inedible food and truly awful music: Each of these could be described as a disaster, a cataclysmic event causing extreme suffering, even total destruction. Disaster made its way into the English language from Greek. The second part of the word is derived from astron — "star" or "planet," familiar from words like astronomy and astronaut. Dis- is prefix with a meaning similar to "un-" or "mis-," but with clearly negative connotations. Translated literally, disaster means "bad or unlucky star," and it's a relic of a time when astrology was considered a serious science that could predict events — including disasters you might try to avoid — in your life on Earth!
Vocabulary lists containing disaster
Did You Planet? Words With Surprisingly Spacey Origins
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Oh, My Stars! A Solstice Sampler
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Calamity, Catastrophe, and Crisis: Disaster Words
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In the summer of 1999, 11-year-old Anton Honchanka was looking to escape his contaminated hometown following history's worst nuclear disaster.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
But on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in Oregon, where six homes have been destroyed this week, the flames are a real disaster, says top official Edward Henderson.
From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026
It’s no surprise that a show that draws its name from a story of environmental disaster ruminates on death.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
A determination of disaster came at the end of that year, he said, and Congress appropriated funds in 2025.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
We had to go on, but we knew that disaster could not be long in coming.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
But there have been instances of official sources, including government-controlled media, deliberately downplaying disasters, which has led to some public mistrust in this area.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
“You have to question if they were really doing things properly,” said Linayo, who worked on a Japanese-funded project during Chávez’s government that studied how to reduce damage from natural disasters.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
Air pollution, wildfire smoke, industrial disasters like the East Palestine, Ohio train wreck and extended pollen seasons are all reasons why people are increasingly concerned with making their indoor environments actually breathable.
From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2026
He said mortgage companies withholding insurance funds has become an issue across the nation after disasters.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
That was the reason for her anxious correspondence with the invisible doctors, interrupted by frequent disasters of the mail.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
