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
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
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
The apocalypse Rosi presents is not just the legendary one that destroyed the ancient Roman town of the film’s title but an ongoing one that encompasses the calamities of our modern era as well as the rejuvenation that sometimes accompanies destruction.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 6 Mar. 2026
What Trump is most certainly reviewing is the viability of Noem as a Cabinet secretary, who has rapidly become a scapegoat for the predictable calamities of the high-visibility deployment of border guards as SWAT troops in urban centers.
—Chris Stirewalt, The Hill, 27 Jan. 2026
The calamities of war shuttered many of the earliest kissa, as entire collections of jazz records were lost.
—Nneka M. Okona, Bon Appetit Magazine, 21 Jan. 2026
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
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
The apocalypse Rosi presents is not just the legendary one that destroyed the ancient Roman town of the film’s title but an ongoing one that encompasses the calamities of our modern era as well as the rejuvenation that sometimes accompanies destruction.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 6 Mar. 2026
What Trump is most certainly reviewing is the viability of Noem as a Cabinet secretary, who has rapidly become a scapegoat for the predictable calamities of the high-visibility deployment of border guards as SWAT troops in urban centers.
—Chris Stirewalt, The Hill, 27 Jan. 2026
The calamities of war shuttered many of the earliest kissa, as entire collections of jazz records were lost.
—Nneka M. Okona, Bon Appetit Magazine, 21 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for calamities
Noun
-
Through skill, sacrifice and professionalism, our first responders have narrowly avoided major disasters, including the recent high-rise fire in Towson that could have ended far worse without rapid response and coordination on scene.—
Nick Stewart,
Baltimore Sun,
9 May 2026
-
That could leave states on the hook for millions of dollars to rebuild roads, schools and other infrastructure after tornadoes, floods and other disasters that do not cause enough widespread damage to meet the new criteria for federal assistance.—
Lauren Sommer,
NPR,
7 May 2026
Noun
-
California is being hammered with more frequent and devastating catastrophes, and that’s making the entire insurance market riskier and more expensive, exacerbating mistakes made by government and the private sector alike.—
Ben Allen,
Oc Register,
2 May 2026
-
What was in the hearts of the humans who diarized catastrophes on the Elbe’s river rocks seven centuries ago—and in 2018?—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
30 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Early in his life, Short experienced multiple family tragedies in a short span of time, including the death of his older brother David in a car accident in 1962 when the actor was only 12-years-old.—
Ashley Hume,
FOXNews.com,
11 May 2026
-
Everyone was in a hurry to move forward into a newly peaceful world, a world without the tragedies of war abroad and the curse of sickness at home.—
Fran Moreland Johns,
The Atlantic,
11 May 2026
Noun
-
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
-
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 13 May. 2026.
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