calamity

[ kuh-lam-i-tee ]

/ kəˈlæm ɪ ti /

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See synonyms for: calamity / calamities on Thesaurus.com

noun, plural ca·lam·i·ties.

a great misfortune or disaster, as a flood or serious injury.

grievous affliction; adversity; misery: the calamity of war.

OTHER WORDS FOR calamity

1 reverse, blow, catastrophe, cataclysm; mischance, mishap.

See synonyms for calamity on Thesaurus.com

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Origin of calamity

1375–1425; late Middle English calamite<Middle French <Latin calamitāt- (stem of calamitās), perhaps akin to incolumitās safety

synonym study for calamity

1. See disaster.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use calamity in a sentence

But now, to that list of calamities to learn from, we need to add “mass extinctions.”
Heed the Warnings: Why We’re on the Brink of Mass Extinction|Sean B. Carroll|November 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But then, through a series of calamities typical of The Comeback, she ends up auditioning for the show…and gets the part.
How Lisa Kudrow Pulled Off TV’s Ultimate ‘Comeback’|Kevin Fallon|November 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Maybe there's a route, somewhere in there, towards an end to calamities on July 16.
India’s Most Dangerous Meal: The Poisoned-Lunch Disaster|Dilip D’Souza|July 18, 2013|DAILY BEAST
It was about the passive indifference of a nation that seems content to allow these daily calamities to persist.
Zimmerman Walks Free, Black America Seethes|Bassam Gergi|July 14, 2013|DAILY BEAST

Then there will be earthquakes, tsunamis, and other calamities.
China’s Doomsday Crackdown|Melinda Liu|December 18, 2012|DAILY BEAST
It was he who deserved punishment—not the sufferer with his calamities imposed upon him by his erring sire.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
There is something cold and chilling in the supports which pride and philosophy alone can afford under the calamities of life.
Madame Roland, Makers of History|John S. C. Abbott
The man who brought these calamities on his country was not a mere visionary or a mere swindler.
The History of England from the Accession of James II.|Thomas Babington Macaulay
The small production of Campbell may be partly explained by his domestic calamities.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 2|Various
The burden and mystery of life lay heavily on him—its lasting calamities and vanishing joys, its trials and disappointments.
Julian Home|Dean Frederic W. Farrar

British Dictionary definitions for calamity

calamity

/ (kəˈlæmɪtɪ) /

noun plural -ties

a disaster or misfortune, esp one causing extreme havoc, distress, or misery

a state or feeling of deep distress or misery

Word Origin for calamity

C15: from French calamité, from Latin calamitās; related to Latin incolumis uninjured

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

calamity

OTHER WORDS FOR calamity

Origin of calamity

synonym study for calamity

Words related to calamity

How to use calamity in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for calamity

Word Origin for calamity