disastrous

adjective di·sas·trous \ di-ˈzas-trəs also -ˈsas- \

Updated on: 11 Apr 2018

Definition of disastrous

1 : attended by or causing suffering or disaster : calamitous

a disastrous flood

2 : terrible, horrendous

a disastrous score

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disastrously

adverb

See disastrous defined for English-language learners

Examples of disastrous in a Sentence

Half the city was destroyed by a disastrous fire.
The bad weather could have a disastrous effect on the area's tourism industry.
His failure to back up the computer files had disastrous consequences.
The strike was economically disastrous.

Recent Examples of disastrous from the Web

Reed's victory, succeeding Sergio Garcia, whose title defense was derailed by a disastrous quadruple bogey 13 on the first day, means that all four major golf titles are held by Americans of 27 years of age or under.

— paul gittings, CNN, "Masters 2018: Patrick Reed keeps his nerve to claim the Green Jacket," 8 Apr. 2018
Mickelson took a disastrous triple-bogey 7 on Friday at the par-4 ninth.

— jesse smithey, Detroit Free Press, "2018 Masters: Phil Mickelson fading in second round; will he make cut?," 6 Apr. 2018
This is how California gets most of its disastrous floods, but also most of its drinking water.

— adam rogers, WIRED, "A Month's Worth of Rain Will Hit California This Weekend," 6 Apr. 2018
But even such basic questions could prove disastrous for the president, who isn’t exactly a model of truthfulness or modesty when placed under oath.

— cristian farias, Daily Intelligencer, "Mueller (Quietly) Keeps Turning Up the Heat," 5 Apr. 2018
Our brains also roughly double in size during that time and harm to this organ can be particularly disastrous.

— dina fine maron, Scientific American, "Zika Exposure Even after Birth May Lead to Brain Damage," 4 Apr. 2018
The recent incident was much less disastrous, though certainly dramatic as a rocket booster suddenly came falling out of the sky.

— jay bennett, Popular Mechanics, "Rocket Booster Falls From the Sky and Explodes Near Chinese Town," 12 Jan. 2018
But what had worked for thousands of years in the Old World proved disastrous in the New.

— bella bathurst, Newsweek, "Kill the Plough, Save Our Soils," 29 May 2014
Arsenal were recently said to be willing to sell the Spaniard if a £50m bid is made, giving the club the opportunity to start rebuilding the squad after a disastrous campaign in 2017/18.

— SI.com, "Report: Arsenal, Juventus Tipped to Battle for Matteo Darmian," 23 Mar. 2018

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