disaster
[ dih-zas-ter, -zah-ster ]
/ dɪˈzæs tər, -ˈzɑ stər /
noun
a calamitous event, especially one occurring suddenly and causing great loss of life, damage, or hardship, as a flood, airplane crash, or business failure.
Obsolete.
an unfavorable aspect of a star or planet.
Origin of disaster
1585–95; < Middle French
desastre < Italian
disastro, equivalent to
dis-
dis-1 +
astro star < Latin
astrum < Greek
ástron
SYNONYMS FOR disaster
synonym study for disaster
1.
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 WORDS FROM disaster
pre·dis·as·ter, nounWords nearby disaster
Example sentences from the Web for disaster
British Dictionary definitions for disaster
disaster
/ (dɪˈzɑːstə) /
noun
an occurrence that causes great distress or destruction
a thing, project, etc, that fails or has been ruined
Derived forms of disaster
disastrous, adjectiveWord Origin for disaster
C16 (originally in the sense: malevolent astral influence): from Italian
disastro, from
dis- (pejorative) +
astro star, from Latin
astrum, from Greek
astron