calamitous

adjective

ca·​lam·​i·​tous kə-ˈla-mə-təs 

: being, causing, or accompanied by calamity

calamitous events

a calamitous earthquake

calamitously adverb

Synonyms

• 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

At least 27 campers and counselors from the all-girls summer camp were killed along the Guadalupe River when calamitous flash floods swept through the area on July 4. —Marc Ramirez, USA Today, 26 Sep. 2025

Social media weighed in on the calamitous play. —Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 26 Sep. 2025

Already trailing Porto by five points in the league, albeit with a game in hand, on Tuesday Benfica began their Champions League campaign with a calamitous 3-2 defeat at home to Qarabag. —Dan Cancian, Forbes.com, 19 Sep. 2025

His coastal senate district includes Pacific Palisades, one of the Los Angeles neighborhoods that burned in the calamitous January wildfires. —Nicole Nixon, Sacbee.com, 17 Sep. 2025

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