cataclysm

noun

cat·​a·​clysm ˈka-tə-ˌkli-zəm 

1

: flood, deluge

2

: catastrophe sense 3a

3

: a momentous and violent event marked by overwhelming upheaval and demolition

broadly : an event that brings great changes

an international economic cataclysm

cataclysmal

ˌka-tə-ˈkliz-məl 

adjective

or cataclysmic

ˌka-tə-ˈkliz-mik 

cataclysmically

ˌka-tə-ˈkliz-mi-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

Synonyms

• alluvion
• bath
• cataract
• deluge
• flood
• flood tide
• inundation
• Niagara
• overflow
• spate
• torrent

Example Sentences

floods, earthquakes, and other cataclysms

The country barely survived the cataclysm of war.

The revolution could result in worldwide cataclysm.

Recent Examples on the Web

In any ‘normal’ contest between major party candidates devoid of a global cataclysm or a split-party ticket, Republicans would otherwise have maintained their lock on the White House all the way until the Great Depression finally ended their stable hold on the electoral college. —Time, 15 Nov. 2022

In the five episode event, which kicks off season 8, Team Flash enlist some of their super friends to fight the alien Despero (Tony Curran) and prevent the titular cataclysm. —EW.com, 15 Nov. 2021

But the doom that looms here is of a different sort, rooted in somber memories of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake disaster, and realized in the form of a serpentine red monster, known only as the Worm, that portends yet another cataclysm in the making. —Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times, 13 Apr. 2023

Privately every bit as shocked as the rest of the world by how close events had come to cataclysm, Kennedy and Khrushchev accelerated talks on strengthening control of their respective nuclear programs, and those talks eventually resulted in the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty signed in 1963. —BostonGlobe.com, 22 Apr. 2021

This sounds like an industry-wide cataclysm. —David Karpf, The Atlantic, 21 Dec. 2022

The portraits of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and German dictator Adolf Hitler are expertly drawn, as are the dozens of supporting characters who hoped that desperate last-minute diplomacy – or acceding to some of Hitler’s territorial demands – might work to avoid a cataclysm. —Steve Donoghue, The Christian Science Monitor, 2 Dec. 2020

This is a cataclysm of immense proportions. —Michael Tomasky, The New Republic, 2 Dec. 2021

At the end of the Bronze Age there was a great cataclysm in terms of the breakdown of the social and political order. —Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 15 May 2013

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Word History

Etymology

French cataclysme, from Latin cataclysmos, from Greek kataklysmos, from kataklyzein to inundate, from kata- + klyzein to wash — more at clyster

First Known Use

1599, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

cataclysm

noun

cat·​a·​clysm ˈkat-ə-ˌkliz-əm 

1

: a great flood

2

: a violent and destructive natural event (as an earthquake)

3

: a violent social or political change

cataclysmal

ˌkat-ə-ˈkliz-məl 

adjective

or cataclysmic

-mik