disaster

American  

[dih-zas-ter, -zah-ster] / dɪˈzæs tər, -ˈzɑ stər /

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.

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disaster British  

/ dɪˈzɑːstə /

noun

1. an occurrence that causes great distress or destruction

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

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Related Words

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 Word Forms

• disastrous
  adjective
• predisaster
  noun

Etymology

Origin of disaster

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

Explanation

An earthquake, an oil spill, an economic collapse, a party with inedible food and truly awful music: Each of these could be described as a disaster, a cataclysmic event causing extreme suffering, even total destruction. Disaster made its way into the English language from Greek. The second part of the word is derived from astron — "star" or "planet," familiar from words like astronomy and astronaut. Dis- is prefix with a meaning similar to "un-" or "mis-," but with clearly negative connotations. Translated literally, disaster means "bad or unlucky star," and it's a relic of a time when astrology was considered a serious science that could predict events — including disasters you might try to avoid — in your life on Earth!

Example Sentences

But she worries it will not cover much loss if disaster struck again.

From Barron's • May 11, 2026

Susan Maybank survived the disaster and was later reunited for tea with PC Jones and Parry.

From BBC • May 10, 2026

Liu's indictment comes in the wake of widely reported findings from a United States investigation into the crash, which was China's deadliest air disaster in decades.

From Barron's • May 8, 2026

The one-hour event Wednesday, hosted by NBC4 and Telemundo 52, focused early on on the city’s handling of the disaster, which destroyed thousands of homes and left 12 people dead.

From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2026

As decades pass without a major disaster, people begin to move back into the low-lying areas by the water.

From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland

Related Words

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