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
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
But even if all those calamities come to pass, hey, Thomas still loves his partner.
—Joseph Hudak, Rolling Stone, 15 Jan. 2026
Massive radiation storms, earthquakes, and other calamities continue to make the outside world highly dangerous.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 9 Jan. 2026
Not so much for most of the thousands of people displaced a year ago by the twin fire calamities that hit the east and west ends of Los Angeles County.
—James Rainey, Los Angeles Times, 6 Jan. 2026
And a few novels nod to the future, imagining how life will change—or already has—as technology advances and calamities accrue.
—The Atlantic, 4 Dec. 2025
The members of the country's urban search and rescue teams save lives and recover human remains after the biggest calamities.
—Rebecca Hersher, NPR, 4 Dec. 2025
Whereas much of the original play unfolds as a steady stream of callers to the Tesmans’ estate, DaCosta cleverly restages these various interpersonal calamities against the backdrop of a lavish party.
—Abby Monteil, Them., 28 Oct. 2025
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
But even if all those calamities come to pass, hey, Thomas still loves his partner.
—Joseph Hudak, Rolling Stone, 15 Jan. 2026
Massive radiation storms, earthquakes, and other calamities continue to make the outside world highly dangerous.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 9 Jan. 2026
Not so much for most of the thousands of people displaced a year ago by the twin fire calamities that hit the east and west ends of Los Angeles County.
—James Rainey, Los Angeles Times, 6 Jan. 2026
And a few novels nod to the future, imagining how life will change—or already has—as technology advances and calamities accrue.
—The Atlantic, 4 Dec. 2025
The members of the country's urban search and rescue teams save lives and recover human remains after the biggest calamities.
—Rebecca Hersher, NPR, 4 Dec. 2025
Whereas much of the original play unfolds as a steady stream of callers to the Tesmans’ estate, DaCosta cleverly restages these various interpersonal calamities against the backdrop of a lavish party.
—Abby Monteil, Them., 28 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for calamities
Noun
-
The next commissioner must prepare for more frequent disasters while managing long term coastal erosion.—
Eleanor Dearman,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
14 Feb. 2026
-
The February 2021 freeze became one of the deadliest and costliest disasters in state history.—
Newsroom Meteorologist,
Houston Chronicle,
13 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Any negotiation that is seen as overly rewarding aggression will set in motion catastrophes all over the world.—
Alex Nitzberg,
FOXNews.com,
5 Feb. 2026
-
However, within resources available, countries can build disaster and health response capabilities to mitigate physical and biological catastrophes.—
Edward Lotterman,
Twin Cities,
18 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Ensuring safe separation between aircraft is vital to preventing tragedies like the collision over the Potomac River, and reports of serious safety concerns from airline pilots paint a troubling picture of safety over Burbank in particular.—
Marc Scribner,
Oc Register,
8 Feb. 2026
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After many tragedies, the UK’s National Health Service is doing precisely the opposite.—
Betsy McCaughey,
Boston Herald,
8 Feb. 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
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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 17 Feb. 2026.
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