calamitous

adjective

ca·​lam·​i·​tous kə-ˈla-mə-təs 

: being, causing, or accompanied by calamity

calamitous events

a calamitous earthquake

calamitously adverb

Synonyms of calamitous

• disastrous
• fatal
• unfortunate
• catastrophic

Examples of calamitous in a Sentence

the calamitous state of the nation's economy

a calamitous decision to sell their products online exclusively ruined the business

Recent Examples on the Web

Despite a calamitous financial outlook, its share price has shown resiliency — soaring to an all-time high of almost $500 last month before falling back to around $422 this morning after the Q4 reveal. —Victor Tangermann, Futurism, 29 Jan. 2026

No one can predict how calamitous this could be. —Erik Sherman, Forbes.com, 29 Jan. 2026

The seatbelt is meant for safety, to prevent serious injury in the event of something calamitous, like a crash. —Zack Rosenblatt, New York Times, 28 Jan. 2026

In a message posted on its website, SXSW Sydney confirmed that the event has been canceled, in a further blow to the arts and culture scene in Australia that is reeling from the calamitous cancellation of Adelaide Writers Week on Tuesday. —Abid Rahman, HollywoodReporter, 14 Jan. 2026

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Middle French & Latin; Middle French calamiteux "suffering misfortune, miserable," borrowed from Latin calamitōsus "liable to damage or disaster, afflicted by disaster, ill-starred, involving damage or disaster, ruinous," by haplology from *calamitātōsus, from calamitāt-, calamitās "disaster, misfortune, calamity" + -ōsus -ous

First Known Use

1545, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

calamitous

adjective

ca·​lam·​i·​tous kə-ˈlam-ət-əs 

: causing or accompanied by calamity

calamitous events

calamitously adverb

calamitousness noun