1
as in disasters
a sudden violent event that brings about great loss or destruction
more than one natural catastrophe has threatened to destroy their farm over the years
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in failures
something that has failed
the movie was a catastrophe, nearly bankrupting the studio that produced it
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of catastrophes
An observer of catastrophes, come what may.
—
Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 Jan. 2026
Across their nearly 100-year football rivalry, USC and Notre Dame have only paused their annual matchup for global catastrophes like World War II and the Covid-19 pandemic.
—Austin Turner, CBS News, 22 Dec. 2025
Kevin Stefanski might be in his final days as the Cleveland Browns head coach because of the Deshaun Watson trade and all of the catastrophes that followed.
—Jason Lloyd, New York Times, 17 Dec. 2025
With both courtesies and catastrophes refusing to conform, the canton’s school board, publishers, and clergy were forced to produce multiple editions of primers, textbooks, and catechisms; sometimes five parallel print runs were needed for a population the size of a town.
—Simon Akam, New Yorker, 1 Dec. 2025
The most severe of the parade's many catastrophes saw the Cat in the Hat balloon strike a streetlight at 72nd Street and Central Park West, causing a horizontal metal arm to snap off and fall onto the crowd below.
—Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 27 Nov. 2025
Clara and Riley — with their big hearts and weak armor, untempered by irony, vulnerable to the catastrophes of disillusionment — might as well be our patron saints.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 21 Nov. 2025
But catastrophes also tend to reveal deficits in society, and the patterns of destruction and abandonment that followed the fire—which have roots in America’s past and its present—tell us something about the country’s future, too.
—Vann R. Newkirk Ii, The Atlantic, 10 Nov. 2025
While people’s claims history, inflation, higher labor and construction costs play into increases nationwide, Coloradans face the additional burden of living in a state where the risk is high of catastrophes wreaking billions of dollars in damage.
—Judith Kohler, Denver Post, 7 Nov. 2025
Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 Jan. 2026
Across their nearly 100-year football rivalry, USC and Notre Dame have only paused their annual matchup for global catastrophes like World War II and the Covid-19 pandemic.
—Austin Turner, CBS News, 22 Dec. 2025
Kevin Stefanski might be in his final days as the Cleveland Browns head coach because of the Deshaun Watson trade and all of the catastrophes that followed.
—Jason Lloyd, New York Times, 17 Dec. 2025
With both courtesies and catastrophes refusing to conform, the canton’s school board, publishers, and clergy were forced to produce multiple editions of primers, textbooks, and catechisms; sometimes five parallel print runs were needed for a population the size of a town.
—Simon Akam, New Yorker, 1 Dec. 2025
The most severe of the parade's many catastrophes saw the Cat in the Hat balloon strike a streetlight at 72nd Street and Central Park West, causing a horizontal metal arm to snap off and fall onto the crowd below.
—Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 27 Nov. 2025
Clara and Riley — with their big hearts and weak armor, untempered by irony, vulnerable to the catastrophes of disillusionment — might as well be our patron saints.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 21 Nov. 2025
But catastrophes also tend to reveal deficits in society, and the patterns of destruction and abandonment that followed the fire—which have roots in America’s past and its present—tell us something about the country’s future, too.
—Vann R. Newkirk Ii, The Atlantic, 10 Nov. 2025
While people’s claims history, inflation, higher labor and construction costs play into increases nationwide, Coloradans face the additional burden of living in a state where the risk is high of catastrophes wreaking billions of dollars in damage.
—Judith Kohler, Denver Post, 7 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for catastrophes
Noun
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The Packers had seen their season end in two of the last three postseasons in part because of special teams disasters, and Saturday night was no different.—
The Athletic NFL Staff,
New York Times,
12 Jan. 2026
-
Overall, the nation suffered a staggering 23 separate weather and climate disasters in 2025, each of which cost over $1 billion in damages.—
Doyle Rice,
USA Today,
10 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Any profession with life-and-death authority must be willing to confront its worst failures, not hide them.—
Dave Myers,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
14 Jan. 2026
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For women now incarcerated at Mabel Bassett, those early decisions and missing records are not abstract failures, but the background against which their own cases were charged, tried, and judged.—
Stephen Martin,
Oklahoma Watch,
13 Jan. 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
Noun
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Different tragedies, but the same grief for a community betrayed by the people who were supposed to protect and serve.—
Jennifer Brooks,
Mercury News,
9 Jan. 2026
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The book captures powerfully the rich possibilities that lie between integrity and despair, as Sybil reckons with the fallout of her life’s tragedies.—
Shruti Mutalik,
Baltimore Sun,
7 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
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
Cite this Entry
“Catastrophes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/catastrophes. Accessed 17 Jan. 2026.
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