catastrophe

American  

[kuh-tas-truh-fee] / kəˈtæs trə fi /

noun

catastrophes plural

1. a sudden and widespread disaster.

   the catastrophe of war.

   Synonyms:

   calamity, misfortune

   Antonyms:

   triumph

2. any misfortune, mishap, or failure; fiasco.

   The play was so poor our whole evening was a catastrophe.

3. a final event or conclusion, usually an unfortunate one; a disastrous end.

   the great catastrophe of the Old South at Appomattox.

   Antonyms:

   triumph

4. (in a drama) the point at which the circumstances overcome the central motive, introducing the close or conclusion; dénouement.

5. Geology. a sudden, violent disturbance, especially of a part of the surface of the earth; cataclysm.

6. Also called catastrophe function.  Mathematics. any of the mathematical functions that describe the discontinuities that are treated in catastrophe theory.

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catastrophe British  

/ kəˈtæstrəfɪ, ˌkætəˈstrɒfɪk /

noun

1. a sudden, extensive, or notable disaster or misfortune

2. the denouement of a play, esp a classical tragedy

3. a final decisive event, usually causing a disastrous end

4. 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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Synonym Usage

See disaster.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• supercatastrophe
  noun
• catastrophal
  adjective
• catastrophic
  adjective
• catastrophical
  adjective
• catastrophically
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• catastrophes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of catastrophe

First recorded in 1570–80; from Greek katastrophḗ “an overturning,” from katastréphein “to overturn”; equivalent to cata- + strophe

Explanation

A catastrophe is a disaster. If a wedding reception is disrupted by a fistfight between the bride and her new mother-in-law, you could call the occasion a catastrophe. Catastrophe comes from a Greek word meaning "overturn." It originally referred to the disastrous finish of a drama, usually a tragedy. The definition was extended to mean "any sudden disaster" in the 1700s. Nowadays, catastrophe can be used to refer to very tragic events as well as more minor ones. A hurricane destroying hundreds of homes is certainly a catastrophe; baking a birthday cake without following a recipe might also result in catastrophe, if you don't know anything about cooking.

Example Sentences

Catastrophe losses, net of reinsurance, dropped to $95 million from $175 million the year prior.

From Barron's • Jan. 21, 2026

Appeared in the October 31, 2025, print edition as 'Bill Gates Rethinks Climate Catastrophe'.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 30, 2025

Administrators of the wildfire fund told members of the state Catastrophe Response Council this week that they expect Eaton fire claims “to be in the tens of billions of dollars.”

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 30, 2025

One such mechanism is the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility, of which 19 Caribbean governments are members.

From BBC • Oct. 1, 2025

And they say: ‘Hath the Catastrophe come to pass?’

From Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas by Bahá'u'lláh

Related Words

• accident
• adversity
• calamity
• casualty
• cataclysm
• crash
• debacle
• devastation
• disaster
• emergency
• failure
• fiasco
• hardship
• meltdown
• misery
• mishap
• tragedy
• trouble
• wreck