cataclysm

[kat-uh-kliz-uhm]

noun

1. any violent upheaval, especially one of a social or political nature.

2. Physical Geography.,  a sudden and violent physical action producing changes in the earth's surface.

3. an extensive flood; deluge.

cataclysm

/ ˈkætəˌklɪzəm /

noun

1. a violent upheaval, esp of a political, military, or social nature

2. a disastrous flood; deluge

3. geology another name for catastrophe

Other Word Forms

• cataclysmic adjective
• cataclysmically adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of cataclysm¹

1625–35; < Late Latin cataclysmos (Vulgate) < Greek kataklysmós flood (akin to kataklýzein to flood), equivalent to kata- cata- + klysmós a washing

Word History and Origins

Origin of cataclysm¹

C17: via French from Latin, from Greek kataklusmos deluge, from katakluzein to flood, from kluzein to wash

Synonym Study

See disaster.

Related Words

• calamity 
• catastrophe 
• convulsion 
• debacle 
• deluge 
• upheaval