as in disastrous
bringing about ruin or misfortune
a catastrophic tornado destroyed the hamlet's only house of worship
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Recent Examples of catastrophic
The film's production cost around $26 million and earned just $637,355 at the box office — a catastrophic flop.
—
Ashley Hume, FOXNews.com, 29 Oct. 2025
Ongoing catastrophic flash flooding and numerous landslides will continue through Tuesday night.
—Miami Herald Hurricane Bot, Miami Herald, 29 Oct. 2025
There will just be the same kind of catastrophic need for food.
—Barbara Sprunt, NPR, 29 Oct. 2025
LogoPowered byScale logo Hurricane Melissa, one of the strongest Atlantic storms on record, is slowly cutting through the Caribbean, soaking and lashing those in its path with torrential rain and catastrophic winds.
—Chad De Guzman, Time, 29 Oct. 2025
The center of catastrophic Hurricane Melissa arrives in Cuba.
—Nicole Fallert, USA Today, 29 Oct. 2025
Given the widespread risk of catastrophic wildfire, the federal government must better utilize grazing to combat the wildfire crisis.
—Khaleda Rahman, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Oct. 2025
Ashley Hume, FOXNews.com, 29 Oct. 2025
Ongoing catastrophic flash flooding and numerous landslides will continue through Tuesday night.
—Miami Herald Hurricane Bot, Miami Herald, 29 Oct. 2025
There will just be the same kind of catastrophic need for food.
—Barbara Sprunt, NPR, 29 Oct. 2025
LogoPowered byScale logo Hurricane Melissa, one of the strongest Atlantic storms on record, is slowly cutting through the Caribbean, soaking and lashing those in its path with torrential rain and catastrophic winds.
—Chad De Guzman, Time, 29 Oct. 2025
The center of catastrophic Hurricane Melissa arrives in Cuba.
—Nicole Fallert, USA Today, 29 Oct. 2025
Given the widespread risk of catastrophic wildfire, the federal government must better utilize grazing to combat the wildfire crisis.
—Khaleda Rahman, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for catastrophic
Adjective
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The Arizona Wildcats clobbered Colorado, 52-17, marking another disastrous defeat for Coach Prime.—
Ryan Gaydos,
FOXNews.com,
2 Nov. 2025
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Gottlieb’s team, picked last in the Horizon League preseason poll, hopes to improve on last year’s disastrous 4-28 campaign.—
Gary Bedore,
Kansas City Star,
2 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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The show centers on Alex (Jason Clarke) and his wife, Maggie Murdaugh (Patricia Arquette), as their privileged world spirals following a fatal 2019 boating accident involving their son, Paul (Johnny Berchtold), that leads to more secrets emerging.—
Jordana Comiter,
PEOPLE,
30 Oct. 2025
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Once written, the script’s fantastic promise distracted its readers from the fatal holes in its plot.—
Elizabeth D. Samet,
Foreign Affairs,
29 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Thus a wonderful section on The Jew of Malta climaxes in an unfortunate vision of the text as a secret message to Lord Strange, a wealthy and important patron of the arts.—
Isaac Butler,
The Atlantic,
3 Nov. 2025
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Such an event, let alone two within less than an hour of each other, is both unfortunate and potentially very suspicious.—
Christopher McFadden,
Interesting Engineering,
3 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Catastrophic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/catastrophic. Accessed 6 Nov. 2025.
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