1
as in disaster
a sudden violent event that brings about great loss or destruction
more than one natural catastrophe has threatened to destroy their farm over the years
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in failure
something that has failed
the movie was a catastrophe, nearly bankrupting the studio that produced it
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for catastrophe
Noun
-
Additionally, the general public came to mistrust and reject nuclear energy projects, further disillusioned by the Three Mile Island disaster.—
Time,
Time,
15 July 2025 -
But there are some disasters that even the most equipped people can’t possibly prepare for.—
Jessica Pishko,
New Yorker,
15 July 2025
Noun
-
Critics of the strikes jumped at the opportunity to call the operation a failure, but the DIA’s product should ...—
NR Editors,
National Review,
24 July 2025
-
And in fact, failure in the relays has been an ongoing sore subject for Team USA.—
Cory Mull,
Forbes.com,
24 July 2025
Noun
-
If the answer was yes, then the jobs apocalypse might arrive sooner than even Amodei had predicted.—
Billy Perrigo,
Time,
27 June 2025
-
Like yesterday, and the days before, she is interred in the ground up to her waist, the afterthought of some unnamed apocalypse.—
Han Ong,
New Yorker,
22 June 2025
Noun
-
In later years, Francis took extended breaks from music due to tragedy.—
Taijuan Moorman,
USA Today,
18 July 2025
-
And, as her recording career suffered, Francis experienced personal tragedy in 1974 when she was raped at knifepoint in her hotel room after performing at the Westbury Music Fair.—
Matthew Strauss,
Pitchfork,
18 July 2025
Noun
-
So 1% may actually shock businesses into wondering if another calamity is lurking around the corner, prompting them to hunker down and wait rather than expand, Roach warned.—
Jason Ma,
Fortune,
19 July 2025
-
Four Lessons From The Field From the Microsoft mix-up to real-world calamities, there are critical takeaways for any security-conscious organization: 1.—
Chris Bowen,
Forbes.com,
14 July 2025
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Catastrophe.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/catastrophe. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share