calamitous

[ kuh-lam-i-tuhs ]

adjective

1. causing or involving calamity; disastrous:

   a calamitous defeat.

   Synonyms: catastrophic, devastating, ruinous

   Antonyms: advantageous, beneficial

calamitous

/ kəˈlæmɪtəs /

adjective

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

Derived Forms

• caˈlamitousness, noun
• caˈlamitously, adverb

Other Words From

• ca·lami·tous·ly adverb
• ca·lami·tous·ness noun
• unca·lami·tous adjective
• unca·lami·tous·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of calamitous¹

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

Example Sentences

One hypothesis that projected calamitous sea level rise is called the marine ice cliff instability.

From Science News

Here was a rare opportunity, many of us hoped, for humanity to pause and redress the calamitous harm it had long inflicted upon nature.

From Washington Post

Education leaders see it as a desperately needed remedy for a calamitous school year that left many students across the country struggling and falling behind.

From Washington Post

The protagonists are earnest rubes, the antagonists villainous caricatures, and as in Wolfe’s best-selling tomes, the unlikely subplots thread into a fiery, calamitous climax.

From Washington Post

Alayna Curry, an Orlando Health spokeswoman, said the hospital would not discuss Reggie’s calamitous birth, even though his mother has.

From ProPublica

As politicians, Clinton was capable where Ford was calamitous.

From The Daily Beast

Thus far the one thing we know for sure: a calamitous plunge in voter turnout, down 7.3 points from 2008 levels.

From The Daily Beast

There are two more interviews that go similarly—and even a calamitous speech given by both Bert Rodriguezes.

From The Daily Beast

Forced sterilisation was by far the most calamitous exercise undertaken during the Emergency.

From The Daily Beast

A second world war, he believed, would have calamitous effects, including imperiling his own children.

From The Daily Beast

Three calamitous invasions in one year might well have induced reflection in a statesmanlike mind.

From Project Gutenberg

One disaster after another had left him with the belief that he was marked out by fate for calamitous fortunes.

From Project Gutenberg

Her brother Rowsley might also be showing another sign of his calamitous condition.

From Project Gutenberg

While under sentence of death, Blake did not show a concern proportioned to his calamitous situation.

From Project Gutenberg

But we have nothing to do with the constitutionally luckless: the calamitous history of a simple empty stomach is enough.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

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