catastrophe
Americannoun
-
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.
- Antonyms:
- triumph
-
(in a drama) the point at which the circumstances overcome the central motive, introducing the close or conclusion; dénouement.
-
Geology. a sudden, violent disturbance, especially of a part of the surface of the earth; cataclysm.
-
Also called catastrophe function. Mathematics. any of the mathematical functions that describe the discontinuities that are treated in catastrophe theory.
noun
-
a sudden, extensive, or notable disaster or misfortune
-
the denouement of a play, esp a classical tragedy
-
a final decisive event, usually causing a disastrous end
-
Also called: cataclysm. any sudden and violent change in the earth's surface caused by flooding, earthquake, or some other rapid process
Related Words
See disaster.
Other Word Forms
- catastrophal adjective
- catastrophic adjective
- catastrophical adjective
- catastrophically adverb
- supercatastrophe noun
Etymology
Origin of catastrophe
First recorded in 1570–80; from Greek katastrophḗ “an overturning,” from katastréphein “to overturn”; equivalent to cata- + strophe
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.
Jessie Homer French has been painting folk-inflected scenes of environmental catastrophe for decades, but her consistent message and style remain bracingly fresh in the presentation by Various Small Fires.
In a letter to Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds, he warned of "ecological catastrophe" if such waterways were not protected.
From BBC
In this regard, Mr. Rachel’s book exemplifies what the French controversialist Renaud Camus calls the second career of Adolf Hitler: the long hangover of inexplicable catastrophe.
The emergence of the unfolding catastrophe that is Aston Martin-Honda is so recent he has not yet been asked about his thoughts on his future.
From BBC
It is, he says, "a social catastrophe, an economic catastrophe and a political catastrophe".
From BBC
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.
