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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of calamities
If these calamities unfold, the revenue projections, total costs and net transfer balances will be a little lower, too, with the cumulative cashflow balance being higher, at £161million by the summer of 2028.
—
Matt Slater, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2025
Levine Cava bristled, saying the only money left to fund the choppers would be the county’s emergency fund — dollars reserved for hurricanes or other calamities.
—Douglas Hanks, Miami Herald, 5 Sep. 2025
The waves of our joys and calamities, both collective and personal, lap on the same shore, one after another, crashing over one another without pause.
—Michael Jerome Plunkett
september 5, Literary Hub, 5 Sep. 2025
Season 2 will likely follow the fallout of that decision and all the calamities that will no doubt arise from it.
—Lucy Ford, Time, 28 Aug. 2025
Toews has long plumbed the calamities and contradictions of her biography in her fiction.
—Kristen Martin, The Atlantic, 27 Aug. 2025
Cheaper financing amid these calamities helped fuel the market’s eventual recovery.
—Jonathan Lansner, Oc Register, 18 Aug. 2025
Like the tragedy of the recent California wildfires as well as so many other calamities of our time, each one impacts us all to one degree or another.
—Michael B. Teiger, Hartford Courant, 31 Jan. 2025
Everyone in the audience laughed when the capybara first appeared onscreen, even the little kid behind us who had cried earlier, scared of some of the calamities befalling the feline hero.
—Gary Shteyngart, The New Yorker, 27 Jan. 2025
Matt Slater, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2025
Levine Cava bristled, saying the only money left to fund the choppers would be the county’s emergency fund — dollars reserved for hurricanes or other calamities.
—Douglas Hanks, Miami Herald, 5 Sep. 2025
The waves of our joys and calamities, both collective and personal, lap on the same shore, one after another, crashing over one another without pause.
—Michael Jerome Plunkett
september 5, Literary Hub, 5 Sep. 2025
Season 2 will likely follow the fallout of that decision and all the calamities that will no doubt arise from it.
—Lucy Ford, Time, 28 Aug. 2025
Toews has long plumbed the calamities and contradictions of her biography in her fiction.
—Kristen Martin, The Atlantic, 27 Aug. 2025
Cheaper financing amid these calamities helped fuel the market’s eventual recovery.
—Jonathan Lansner, Oc Register, 18 Aug. 2025
Like the tragedy of the recent California wildfires as well as so many other calamities of our time, each one impacts us all to one degree or another.
—Michael B. Teiger, Hartford Courant, 31 Jan. 2025
Everyone in the audience laughed when the capybara first appeared onscreen, even the little kid behind us who had cried earlier, scared of some of the calamities befalling the feline hero.
—Gary Shteyngart, The New Yorker, 27 Jan. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for calamities
Noun
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Some BDCs are dividend machines, others are disasters.—
Brett Owens,
Forbes.com,
13 Sep. 2025
-
Some contend mythologising such events does a disservice to those who lost their lives in maritime disasters.—
Jenna Prestininzi,
Freep.com,
10 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Families that embrace this mindset see setbacks not as catastrophes but as tuition.—
Francois Botha,
Forbes.com,
7 Sep. 2025
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The story grabbed him thematically too, given the increasing devastation caused by wildfires and other environmental catastrophes.—
Tomris Laffly,
Time,
6 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The audience for 2025’s reel of zombie apocalypses lives in a world shaped, in part, by Americans’ refusal to accept an aging Joe Biden’s ineligibility for President.—
Katy Waldman,
New Yorker,
9 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The flag has been ordered to half-staff following major tragedies, such as the September 11 Attacks and the 2012 Newtown school shooting.—
James Powel,
USA Today,
11 Sep. 2025
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But anyone who responds to preventable tragedies like this—tragedies that over time begin to erode the very fabric of our country—by refusing to face the problem of gun violence and crime head-on is missing the point.—
Gabby Giffords,
Time,
11 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Calamities.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/calamities. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.
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