disastrous
Americanadjective
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causing great distress or injury; ruinous; very unfortunate; calamitous.
The rain and cold proved disastrous to his health.
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Archaic. foreboding disaster.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of disastrous
1580–90; < Middle French desastreux, Italian disastroso. See disaster, -ous
Explanation
Setting things on fire to see how fast they burn might seem like fun, but it can be disastrous. Something that's disastrous has terrible consequences. Any action that can cause serious damage is potentially disastrous, like driving too fast on an icy road or climbing a tree during a thunderstorm. You can also use the word disastrous to talk about something that's merely unsuccessful. You could have a disastrous first date, or a disastrous attempt to house-train your puppy. Disastrous comes from the French désastreux, "ill-starred" or "unlucky."
Vocabulary lists containing disastrous
Oh, No! Synonyms for "Bad"
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Commonly Misspelled Words, List 6
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Fear and Loathing in Cleveland: Trump's RNC Acceptance Speech
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist,” he said in his 1961 farewell speech, of the newly developed “permanent armaments industry of vast proportions.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 29, 2026
And as the Mets arrive at that halfway mark of what has turned into a disastrous season, Stearns suddenly finds himself in the crosshairs.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 26, 2026
He lost five of his first 10 games, including a disastrous four-game stretch that included Nations League losses to Panama and Canada in the spring of 2025.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 25, 2026
Stephane Baron, from Charente-Maritime, western France, is bracing for disastrous harvests, due to downpours in February and successive heatwaves in May and June.
From Barron's • Jun. 23, 2026
Moreover, it may actually be disastrous for us to destroy some kinds of living things.
From "My Life with the Chimpanzees" by Jane Goodall
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
