disaster

[dih-zas-ter, -zah-ster]

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.

   Synonyms: affliction, adversity, reverse, blow, accident, mishap, misadventure, misfortune, mischance

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

disaster

/ dɪˈzɑːstə /

noun

1. an occurrence that causes great distress or destruction

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

Other Word Forms

• predisaster noun
• disastrous adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of disaster¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of disaster¹

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

Synonym Study

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.

Example Sentences

"It's pretty obvious that it has been a disaster so far," Colm Murphy, an expert on the British left at Queen Mary University of London, told AFP.

Read more on Barron's

Flooding and landslides in Indonesia have killed more than 200 people, according to figures from the disaster authorities.

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“Why is it that after such a huge disaster, the survivors have no tears left?” he said.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

One comes from the sociologist Diane Vaughan, who embedded herself with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for months after the disaster.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The death toll from floods and landslides on the western Indonesian island of Sumatra this week has risen to 174, a disaster official said on Friday, with about 80 more people missing.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• calamity 
• catastrophe 
• collapse 
• crash 
• debacle 
• defeat 
• emergency 
• failure 
• fiasco 
• flood 
• harm 
• hazard 
• holocaust 
• mishap 
• setback 
• tragedy 
• woe