catastrophe
[kuh-tas-truh-fee]
- a sudden and widespread disaster: the catastrophe of war.
- any misfortune, mishap, or failure; fiasco: The play was so poor our whole evening was a catastrophe.
- a final event or conclusion, usually an unfortunate one; a disastrous end: the great catastrophe of the Old South at Appomattox.
- (in a drama) the point at which the circumstances overcome the central motive, introducing the close or conclusion; dénouement.Compare catastasis, epitasis, protasis.
- Geology. a sudden, violent disturbance, especially of a part of the surface of the earth; cataclysm.
- Also called catastrophe function. Mathematics. any of the mathematical functions that describe the discontinuities that are treated in catastrophe theory.
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Origin of catastrophe
Synonyms
See more synonyms for catastrophe on Thesaurus.com1. misfortune, calamity.
Synonym study
1, 3. See disaster.
Antonyms
1, 3. triumph.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for catastrophe
Contemporary Examples
But a Western policy that is blind to the urgent need for reform and justice is certain to end in catastrophe.
This is a critical system that leaves you one failure away from catastrophe, as in this case.
An independent Scotland would be a catastrophe as a country.
State officials, military and aviation experts in both countries hurried to shift the blame for the catastrophe.
This is, in every conceivable way, a recipe for catastrophe.
Historical Examples
Had Mrs. Bines been above talking to low people, a catastrophe might have been averted.
The SpendersHarry Leon Wilson
At this catastrophe, he was about twenty-seven years of age.
A Sketch of the Life of Brig. Gen. Francis MarionWilliam Dobein James
Such a journey seemed like a catastrophe in his calm existence.
The DreamEmile Zola
"It's like a catastrophe," remarked Monny, looking as if she blamed me.
It Happened in EgyptC. N. Williamson
For him this was desolation, such a catastrophe that he forgot his torments.
The Three Cities Trilogy, CompleteEmile Zola
catastrophe
- a sudden, extensive, or notable disaster or misfortune
- the denouement of a play, esp a classical tragedy
- a final decisive event, usually causing a disastrous end
- Also called: cataclysm any sudden and violent change in the earth's surface caused by flooding, earthquake, or some other rapid process
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Word Origin
C16: from Greek katastrophē, from katastrephein to overturn, from strephein to turn
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for catastrophe
n.
1530s, "reversal of what is expected" (especially a fatal turning point in a drama), from Latin catastropha, from Greek katastrophe "an overturning; a sudden end," from katastrephein "to overturn, turn down, trample on; to come to an end," from kata "down" (see cata-) + strephein "turn" (see strophe). Extension to "sudden disaster" is first recorded 1748.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper