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
-
In 2024, the country experienced 27 separate billion-dollar disasters, totaling roughly $183 billion, up from nearly $93 billion the year before.—
Yoca Arditi-Rocha,
The Orlando Sentinel,
20 Feb. 2026
-
This designation places the mission on the same official level of seriousness as the fatal Challenger (1986) and Columbia (2023) shuttle disasters.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
20 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
While Scarry’s books present such catastrophes with bright colors and good humor, Gomez undermines this cheer by superimposing on the mural a nearly all-black painting of a desolate tent encampment in front of a home destroyed by the Eaton fire.—
Sharon Mizota,
Los Angeles Times,
16 Feb. 2026
-
Kennedy has made no bones about his misplaced skepticism of mRNA vaccines, pinging off the proliferating conspiracies around the COVID vaccines — incredible innovations that saved countless lives during one of the worst global catastrophes in recent memory.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
13 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
As of Monday evening, there have been no tragedies reported in relation to the storm, Hooley said.—
Gayla Cawley,
Boston Herald,
24 Feb. 2026
-
The lawsuit Paxton brought against the company sought compensation for economic losses, civil penalties and a court order compelling the company to take corrective measures to prevent future tragedies.—
Lana Ferguson,
Dallas Morning News,
23 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
-
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 26 Feb. 2026.
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