as in disaster
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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of calamity
And despite discussions ostensibly persisting, Israel’s forces have begun expanding their operations in Gaza, a push that the UN and aid NGOs say risks worsening an ongoing humanitarian calamity.
—
Semafor Staff, semafor.com, 22 Aug. 2025
Cheaper financing amid these calamities helped fuel the market’s eventual recovery.
—Jonathan Lansner, Oc Register, 18 Aug. 2025
Yet Cregger’s storytelling is slick and textureless, featuring characters whose personalities are reduced to their plot functions and a town that has no characteristics beyond its response to calamity.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 8 Aug. 2025
Help organize and mobilize against this calamity.
—Robert B. Reich, Hartford Courant, 5 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for calamity
Semafor Staff, semafor.com, 22 Aug. 2025
Cheaper financing amid these calamities helped fuel the market’s eventual recovery.
—Jonathan Lansner, Oc Register, 18 Aug. 2025
Yet Cregger’s storytelling is slick and textureless, featuring characters whose personalities are reduced to their plot functions and a town that has no characteristics beyond its response to calamity.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 8 Aug. 2025
Help organize and mobilize against this calamity.
—Robert B. Reich, Hartford Courant, 5 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for calamity
Recent Examples of Synonyms for calamity
Noun
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Recently published studies about people affected by the Maui and Los Angeles fires showed that beyond affecting heart and lung function and interrupting access to medical care, these climate disasters have led to higher rates of depression and even suicide.—
Lahari Vuppaladhadiam,
Chicago Tribune,
5 Sep. 2025
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As someone who evacuated but was still directly impacted by the storm, Shepard used her lived experience to influence her research on colonial disasters.—
Essence,
Essence,
5 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The Dead Don't Die In Jim Jarmusch's absurdist apocalypse comedy, flesh-craving zombies raid the once-tranquil town of Centerville, picking off its residents one by one.—
James Mercadante,
PEOPLE,
4 Sep. 2025
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Though, really, podcasting has been living in this particular post-apocalypse for a while.—
Nicholas Quah,
Vulture,
28 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Watts said the child welfare agency also will maintain collaboration with public health officials, law enforcement and treatment providers to prevent tragedies connected to fentanyl and other drugs.—
Laura Bauer,
Kansas City Star,
7 Sep. 2025
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Here is the emphasis on the hardscrabble beginnings and obstacles to be overcome, here is the recognition of a truly raw but once-in-a-lifetime talent that converts the nonbelivers, here are the early wins and the training montages and the tragedies and the comebacks.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
6 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Calamity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/calamity. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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