disaster

American  

[dih-zas-ter, -zah-ster] / dɪˈzæs tər, -ˈzɑ stər /

noun

1. 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

2. Obsolete. an unfavorable aspect of a star or planet.

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disaster British  

/ dɪˈzɑːstə /

noun

1. an occurrence that causes great distress or destruction

2. a thing, project, etc, that fails or has been ruined

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Related Words

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

• disastrous adjective
• predisaster noun

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!

Example Sentences

That would be unwise and probably lead to disaster both in terms of his financial mishandling of those funds and the temptations it would put in his way.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 16, 2026

"Any loss in the Champions League feels like a disaster and like I said, given the situation we're in, we understand tomorrow is a final," said Bellingham.

From BBC • Apr. 15, 2026

A gold pocket watch owned by an unsung hero of the Titanic disaster could fetch up to £100,000 at auction, those selling it say.

From BBC • Apr. 14, 2026

Crews don’t always make it home; the 1986 Challenger space-shuttle disaster and the 2003 Columbia shuttle failure still loom large.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 13, 2026

Another impact of the K-19 disaster was that the horrific images were still fresh in the mind of Vasili Arkhipov.

From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin

Related Words

• calamity
• catastrophe
• collapse
• crash
• debacle
• defeat
• emergency
• failure
• fiasco
• flood
• harm
• hazard
• holocaust
• mishap
• setback
• tragedy
• woe