disastrous
Americanadjective
-
causing great distress or injury; ruinous; very unfortunate; calamitous.
The rain and cold proved disastrous to his health.
-
Archaic. foreboding disaster.
Other Word Forms
- disastrously adverb
- disastrousness noun
- nondisastrous adjective
- nondisastrously adverb
- nondisastrousness noun
- predisastrous adjective
- predisastrously adverb
- quasi-disastrous adjective
- quasi-disastrously adverb
- undisastrous adjective
- undisastrously adverb
Etymology
Origin of disastrous
1580–90; < Middle French desastreux, Italian disastroso. See disaster, -ous
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 worst-case scenario in the recent past is probably represented by someone who retired at the end of 1969, just before the disastrous, inflationary 1970s and early 1980s.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 26, 2026
The WHO is right to be preparing for this disastrous outcome while of course hoping we never come anywhere near it.
From Salon • Mar. 25, 2026
But Aston Martin are last in the world championship after what amounts to a disastrous start to the season.
From BBC • Mar. 19, 2026
In the early 1700s, Scotland’s economic strength had been depleted by a disastrous colonial project.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 18, 2026
I arrived at the church full of anxious energy, as though I’d been sent through time from some disastrous future to this moment, when my actions still had weight and my thoughts, consequences.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
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.
