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.
Powell, who was born in 1953, is also old enough to remember the disastrous 1970s, when the Federal Reserve lost control of inflation by cutting short-term rates too soon and too much.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 3, 2026
This is where the pressure hits the rocket the hardest, and when engineers know that even a small structural weakness can be disastrous.
From BBC • Apr. 1, 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
In the early 1700s, Scotland’s economic strength had been depleted by a disastrous colonial project.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 18, 2026
As Fischer’s losses and draws mounted, it became clear that he was having the most disastrous tournament of his adult career, perhaps even worse than his Buenos Aires debacle.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
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.
