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- Dictionaryca·tas·tro·phe/kəˈtastrəfē/
noun
- 1. an event causing great and often sudden damage or suffering; a disaster: "a national economic catastrophe"
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: a momentous tragic event ranging from extreme misfortune to utter overthrow or ruin. Deforestation and erosion can lead to an ecological catastrophe. 2. : utter failure : fiasco. the party was a catastrophe. 3. a. : a violent and sudden change in a feature of the earth. b. : a violent usually destructive natural event (such as a supernova) 4.
a sudden event that causes very great trouble or destruction: They were warned of the ecological catastrophe to come. a bad situation: The emigration of scientists is a catastrophe for the country. Synonyms. calamity. cataclysm literary. crisis. disaster. emergency. tragedy. SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases. Accidents and disasters.
A catastrophe is a disaster. If a wedding reception is disrupted by a fistfight between the bride and her new mother-in-law, you could call the occasion a catastrophe. Catastrophe comes from a Greek word meaning "overturn." It originally referred to the disastrous finish of a drama, usually a tragedy.
noun. a sudden and widespread disaster: the catastrophe of war. Synonyms: calamity, misfortune. Antonyms: triumph. any misfortune, mishap, or failure; fiasco: The play was so poor our whole evening was a catastrophe. a final event or conclusion, usually an unfortunate one; a disastrous end: the great catastrophe of the Old South at Appomattox.
a sudden event that causes very great trouble or destruction: They were warned of the ecological catastrophe to come. a bad situation: The emigration of scientists is a catastrophe for the country. Synonyms. calamity. cataclysm literary. crisis. disaster. emergency. tragedy. SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases. Accidents and disasters.
A catastrophe is an unexpected event that causes great suffering or damage. From all points of view, war would be a catastrophe. ...the economic and environmental catastrophe that the oil leak has caused. Synonyms: disaster, tragedy, calamity, meltdown [informal] More Synonyms of catastrophe.
an event that causes one person or a group of people to suffer, or that makes difficulties. The attempt to expand the business was a catastrophe for the firm. We've had a few catastrophes with the food for the party.
A sudden and violent change in the physical order of things, such as a sudden upheaval, depression, or convulsion affecting the earth's surface, and the living beings upon it, by which some have supposed that the successive geological periods were suddenly brought to an end. (Cf. cataclysm n., catastrophism n.) 1832.
CATASTROPHE definition: an extremely bad event that causes a lot of suffering or destruction: . Learn more.
1. a sudden and widespread disaster. 2. any misfortune or failure; fiasco. 3. a disastrous end. 4. the point in a drama following the climax and introducing the conclusion. 5. a sudden, violent disturbance, esp. of a part of the surface of the earth.
