as in disasters
a sudden violent event that brings about great loss or destruction
this latest breakdown of the car is inconvenient, but not a calamity
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Recent Examples of calamities
In early times, most humans barely paid attention to weather calamities because the region was so sparsely populated.
—
Martin E. Comas, The Orlando Sentinel, 14 June 2026
Madonna has made music through various calamities that at the time felt world-ending — wars, political unrest, financial collapse — so the terrors of 2026 don’t seem to faze her.
—Scottie Andrew, CNN Money, 2 June 2026
The winter had been a season of calamities, with one emergency or challenge after another.
—Moira McCarthy, Boston Herald, 10 May 2026
Farmers markets — that humble and charming throwback to a bygone era — are also struggling with higher fuel prices, after weathering the economic calamities of the pandemic and other misfortunes.
—Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 9 May 2026
For certain great artists, Meis believes, the creative act is a safe harbor where life’s pressures, exigencies, and calamities aren’t so much denied or resolved as reimagined as pictorial dramas.
—Jed Perl, The New York Review of Books, 4 Apr. 2026
The difference is that those calamities were largely external shocks, as with the Iranian attacks, while censorship and draconian arrests are entirely self-made and self-defeating.
—Charlie Campbell, Time, 1 Apr. 2026
Colorado went 43-119, a record that belongs in a museum exhibit beside other modern-era calamities, behind glass.
—Jenny Catlin, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2026
There were intervening calamities that Walz, Ellison and Omar had nothing to do with, COVID-19 and the death of George Floyd.
—Joe Soucheray, Twin Cities, 7 Mar. 2026
Martin E. Comas, The Orlando Sentinel, 14 June 2026
Madonna has made music through various calamities that at the time felt world-ending — wars, political unrest, financial collapse — so the terrors of 2026 don’t seem to faze her.
—Scottie Andrew, CNN Money, 2 June 2026
The winter had been a season of calamities, with one emergency or challenge after another.
—Moira McCarthy, Boston Herald, 10 May 2026
Farmers markets — that humble and charming throwback to a bygone era — are also struggling with higher fuel prices, after weathering the economic calamities of the pandemic and other misfortunes.
—Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 9 May 2026
For certain great artists, Meis believes, the creative act is a safe harbor where life’s pressures, exigencies, and calamities aren’t so much denied or resolved as reimagined as pictorial dramas.
—Jed Perl, The New York Review of Books, 4 Apr. 2026
The difference is that those calamities were largely external shocks, as with the Iranian attacks, while censorship and draconian arrests are entirely self-made and self-defeating.
—Charlie Campbell, Time, 1 Apr. 2026
Colorado went 43-119, a record that belongs in a museum exhibit beside other modern-era calamities, behind glass.
—Jenny Catlin, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2026
There were intervening calamities that Walz, Ellison and Omar had nothing to do with, COVID-19 and the death of George Floyd.
—Joe Soucheray, Twin Cities, 7 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for calamities
Noun
-
But the biggest warning signs are not always headline-grabbing disasters.—
Gregg Herrin,
Fortune,
13 June 2026
-
The island is trying to recover from the disasters, with some 30% of projects still pending.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
12 June 2026
Noun
-
Horrible things happen all the time, crises and catastrophes that defy language and imagination.—
Karen Valby,
Vanity Fair,
16 June 2026
-
Then there were climate catastrophes like Hurricane Katrina, the normalization of active shooter drills at their schools and a worldwide pandemic.—
Lisa Respers France,
CNN Money,
7 June 2026
Noun
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That could’ve been it for the Allman Brothers, but Gregg recovered and the bruised band soldiered on through a series of further tragedies, including the death of bassist Berry Oakley, also in a motorcycle crash, in 1972.—
Steve Bloom,
Rolling Stone,
16 June 2026
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Known for shows like Eastbound & Down and the Righteous Gemstones, McBride brings his comedic genius to this debut short story collection that tells the stories of men coping with life’s tragedies, both big and small.—
Caroline Reilly,
Forbes.com,
13 June 2026
Noun
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Based on Thornton Wilder’s The Skin of Our Teeth, the surrealist musical follows one nuclear family across thousands of years and three apocalypses.—
Jason P. Frank,
Vulture,
10 Dec. 2025
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And a lot of the pseudepigrapha, like the fake gospels and fake apocalypses, fill in gaps in the record that can serve latter-day, post-biblical purposes.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
16 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Calamities.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/calamities. Accessed 19 Jun. 2026.
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