disaster

[ dih-zas-ter, -zah-ster ]
See synonyms for: disasterdisasters on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. a calamitous event, especially one occurring suddenly and causing great loss of life, damage, or hardship, as a flood, airplane crash, or business failure.

  2. Obsolete. an unfavorable aspect of a star or planet.

Origin of disaster

1
First recorded in 1585–95; from Middle French desastre, from Italian disastro, from dis- dis-1 + astro “star” (from Latin astrum, from Greek ástron )

synonym study For disaster

1. Disaster, calamity, catastrophe, cataclysm refer to adverse happenings often occurring suddenly and unexpectedly. A disaster may be caused by carelessness, negligence, bad judgment, or the like, or by natural forces, as a hurricane or flood: a railroad disaster. Calamity suggests great affliction, either personal or general; the emphasis is on the grief or sorrow caused: the calamity of losing a child. Catastrophe refers especially to the tragic outcome of a personal or public situation; the emphasis is on the destruction or irreplaceable loss: the catastrophe of a defeat in battle. Cataclysm, physically an earth-shaking change, refers to a personal or public upheaval of unparalleled violence: a cataclysm that turned his life in a new direction.

Other words for disaster

Other words from disaster

  • pre·dis·as·ter, noun

Words Nearby disaster

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use disaster in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for disaster

disaster

/ (dɪˈzɑːstə) /


noun
  1. an occurrence that causes great distress or destruction

  2. a thing, project, etc, that fails or has been ruined

Origin of disaster

1
C16 (originally in the sense: malevolent astral influence): from Italian disastro, from dis- (pejorative) + astro star, from Latin astrum, from Greek astron

Derived forms of disaster

  • disastrous, adjective

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