catastrophe

noun ca·tas·tro·phe \ kə-ˈtas-trə-(ˌ)fē \

|Updated on: 10 Jun 2018

Examples: catastrophe in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of catastrophe

plural catastrophes

1 : a momentous tragic event ranging from extreme misfortune to utter overthrow or ruin

Deforestation and erosion can lead to an ecological catastrophe.

2 : utter failure : fiasco

the party was a catastrophe

3 a : a violent and sudden change in a feature of the earth

b : a violent usually destructive natural event (such as a supernova)

4 : the final event of the dramatic action especially of a tragedy

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catastrophic

play \ˌka-tə-ˈsträ-fik\ adjective

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catastrophically

play \-fi-k(ə-)lē\ adverb

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Examples of catastrophe in a Sentence

The oil spill was an environmental catastrophe.
Experts fear a humanitarian catastrophe if food isn't delivered to the refugees soon.
an area on the brink of catastrophe

Recent Examples of catastrophe from the Web

Photo: wsj The Black Prince By Michael Jones (Pegasus, 456 pages, $29.95) War was soon subsumed by a greater catastrophe: the Black Death.

— stephen brumwell, WSJ, "‘The Black Prince’ Review: When Knighthood Was in Flower," 6 June 2018
That’s on top of the more obvious sign posts of a looming climate catastrophe, such as dangerous and unheard-of levels of CO2 in the atmosphere, low levels of Arctic ice, and the 400th consecutive month of record global average temperatures.

— will bunch, Philly.com, "'Did climate change kill … people in Ellicott City?' | Will Bunch," 29 May 2018
To witness this disaster unfold again, less than two years after the previous flood catastrophe, is nearly unthinkable.

— jeff halverson, Washington Post, "The second 1,000-year rainstorm in two years engulfed Ellicott City. Here’s how it happened.," 28 May 2018
Working at the US Geological Survey, Jones led a team of scientists who investigated the potential catastrophes in California’s future.

— rachel becker, The Verge, "The hardest part of preparing for disasters is overcoming human nature," 26 May 2018
Fueled by tensions over the Iranian nuclear deal and production cuts by OPEC nations, including the precipitous drop in Venezuelan oil amid that country’s growing economic catastrophe, American oil has grown more valuable.

— tom hudson, miamiherald, "In the week ahead, a summertime squeeze on consumers | Miami Herald," 17 May 2018
The only catastrophe that had befallen the doll had occurred on a winter night.

— junot díaz, The New Yorker, "A Flawless Silence," 17 Apr. 2018
Mary is pregnant, and Michael can’t bear the thought of raising a child in the face of ecological catastrophe.

— paul schrader, New York Times, "Review: ‘First Reformed’ Is an Epiphany. Ethan Hawke Is, Too.," 17 May 2018
Get our daily newsletter THE Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 was terrifying, but at least both sides knew the world was on the brink of catastrophe.

— The Economist, "The world almost ended in 1983," 5 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'catastrophe.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

When English speakers first borrowed the Greek word catastrophe in the 1500s, they used it for the conclusion or final event of a dramatic work, especially of a tragedy. By the early 1600s, "catastrophe" was being used more generally of any generally unhappy conclusion or disastrous or ruinous end. By the 18th century, "catastrophe" had come to denote truly devastating events, such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Finally, it came to be applied to things that are only figuratively catastrophic - burnt dinners, lost luggage, really bad movies, etc.