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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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.
Police, prosecutors and the courts made a series of disastrous decisions that left Levy free.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
Latin America is already reeling from two disastrous quakes that struck Venezuela in June, killing more than 6,000 people and causing widespread destruction.
From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026
In the postmortem of Graham Platner’s disastrous campaign for Senate, much of the blame has fallen on one man: Daniel Moraff.
From Slate ● Aug. 1, 2026
“The Path Between the Seas” is epic in its scope, detailing the disastrous French attempt, which began in 1881; the fiery debate in the U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
They began to invent humorless, glum jokes of their own and disastrous rumors about the destruction awaiting them at Bologna.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
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.
