Catastrophe

Definitions

1. Any large and disastrous event of great significance.
   countable, uncountable
2. Alternative spelling of catastrophe.
   alt-of, alternative, archaic
3. A disaster beyond expectations.
   countable, uncountable
4. The dramatic event that initiates the resolution of the plot; the dénouement.
   countable, uncountable
5. A type of bifurcation, where a system shifts between two stable states.
   countable, uncountable

Equivalents

52 more languages

العربيةآفةالكارثةداهيةطامةفاجعةكارثةمصيبةنكبة+ 5 more

Azərbaycan dilifaciəfəlakətmüsibət

Българскибедствие

বাংলাআফতদুর্যোগ

Bosanskikatastrofaкатастрофа

Catalàcatàstrofe

Češtinakatastrofapohroma

Danskkatastrofe

Ελληνικάαποδεκάτισμααποδεκατισμόςέκβασηκαταστροφήόλεθροςσυντριβή+ 3 more

Esperantokatastrofo

Eestiõnnetus

فارسیآفتفاجعهمصیبت

Suomikatastrofi

Gaeilgeanachaincatastrófeirleachtubaiste+ 1 more

Galegocatástrofetraxedia

עבריתאסוןקָטַסְטְרוֹפָה

हिन्दीअनर्थआपदाआफ़ततबाहीमुसीबत+ 2 more

Hrvatskikatastrofaкатастрофа

Magyarkatasztrófaszerencsétlenség

Հայերենաղետ

Bahasa Indonesiabencanakatastrofe

Italianocatastrofe

日本語カタストロフィ大惨事大災害災い災害災殃災難破局+ 5 more

ქართულიკატასტროფა

Қазақ тіліалапатапатқирау

ភាសាខ្មែរភយន្តរាយភយូបទ្រពមហន្តរាយហាយនៈ+ 1 more

한국어재난재앙재해

Kurdîafetfaciafelaketkatastrof+ 1 more

Кыргызчаапаат

Latinacalamitās

Lietuviųkatastrofanelaimė

Latviešunelaime

Македонскикатастрофа

Монголаюул

Bahasa Melayubencana

မြန်မာဘေးဆိုး

Nederlandscatastrofeonheilramp

Polskikatastrofaklęska

Portuguêscatástrofe

Românăcatastrofădezastrudeznodământ

Русскийбедствиекатастрофа

Slovenščinakatastrofa

Shqipfatkeqësi

Српскиkatastrofaкатастрофа

Svenskakatastrof

ไทยพิบัติภัยพิบัติมหันตภัย

Türkçeafetfaciafelâketkatastrof+ 1 more

ئۇيغۇرچەئاپەتپالاكەتھالاكەت

Українськакатастрофа

اردوآفتتباہیمُصِیبَت

O'zbekchafalokatmusibat

Tiếng Việttai ươngthảm hoạ

Examples

“The Chernobyl disaster was a catastrophe.”

“Last⟳ night, after the brief sitting of the House of Lords, and before catastrophe befell the Government in the Commons, I had a long chat with the Premier, in which he discussed the Home Rule⟳ question⟳ and his relations with it in perfectly frank manner.”

“Between these high lights accumulated disaster, social catastrophe.”

“Am I not a man? And is a man not stupid? I'm a man, so I married. Wife, children, house, everything. The full catastrophe.”

“For years, Mao Da, an environmental researcher, has studied the plastic industry in Wen’an County, near Beijing. Workers there used to sort⟳ through food and medical waste⟳ by hand, he said. Nonrecyclable material was buried in pits near farmland. “It was an environmental and public health catastrophe,” Mr. Mao said.”

“Pat : he comes like⟳ the Cataſtrophe of the old Comedie : my Cue is villanous Melancholly, with a ſighe like⟳ Tom o’ Bedlam.”

“Homer adverts in two lines, strongly marked by that power, which he singularly possessed, of expressing the deepest pathetic in the simplest terms, to the catastrophë of the family of Œneus, king of the country, as to a story well known among his contemporaries.”

CEFR level