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catastrophic

adjective

as in disastrous
bringing about ruin or misfortune a catastrophic tornado destroyed the hamlet's only house of worship

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of catastrophic There were also calls for Congressional oversight hearings on AI’s catastrophic risks. — Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 15 Sep. 2026 Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun urged Washington to stop expanding its military footprint off the planet, warning against a catastrophic space arms race. — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 15 Sep. 2026 Because astronauts are typically middle-aged men and women, Levine said, the most likely cause of a catastrophic medical problem would be a cardiovascular event. — Elizabeth Cooney, STAT, 15 Sep. 2026 As researchers warn that artificial intelligence could pose catastrophic risks, some of the pioneers who helped develop the technology are weighing in with additional warnings on the dangers of unfettered advances in capability. — Kai Nicol-Schwarz, CNBC, 15 Sep. 2026 And humans have successfully controlled other technologies with catastrophic power, such as biological and nuclear weapons, through cooperation. — Los Angeles Times, 11 Sep. 2026 Victims of those first catastrophic Northern California wildfires, though, have been less able to move on. — Andrew Graham, Sacbee.com, 11 Sep. 2026 Coverage generally targets the parts most likely to cause a catastrophic bill. — Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Miami Herald, 11 Sep. 2026 That’s all before even addressing Porsche’s catastrophic sales numbers marking the iconic automaker’s worst year since 2009. — Joel Feder, The Drive, 9 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for catastrophic
  1. disastrous
  2. fatal
  3. unfortunate
Adjective
  • The agency might even take the opportunity to completely redesign the disastrous Ashland, Armitage and Elston Avenue intersection and save generations of Chicagoans the headache of spending 15 minutes navigating through a single stoplight.
    — Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 19 Sep. 2026
  • Where his focus has been following the Dolphins’ special team unit’s disastrous performance in Miami’s 27-13 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders is patching the leaks that led to three massive returns to the Raiders and a missing a field-goal attempt.
    — Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of disastrous
Adjective
  • That is until his young niece and nephew are kidnapped at a birthday party following the fatal shooting of his diplomat brother and the latter’s wife (Constanza Andrade).
    — Michael Rechtshaffen, HollywoodReporter, 14 Sep. 2026
  • Boeing admitted responsibility for the fatal crashes and that its employees withheld information about the design flaw from the Federal Aviation Administration during certification.
    — Alexandra Skores, CNN Money, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of fatal
Adjective
  • That is the unfortunate part of a tenure full of expansion, media-rights billions and two transformational collective bargaining agreements.
    — Jerry Brewer, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Moore and his allies are presenting gerrymandering as an unfortunate response to an acute political crisis, but trying to gerrymander Maryland in favor of Democrats is far from a new effort.
    — Colin Pascal, Baltimore Sun, 7 Sep. 2026
Definition of unfortunate

Browse Nearby Words

catastrophes
catastrophic
catatonic
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Cite this Entry

“Catastrophic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/catastrophic. Accessed 21 Sep. 2026.

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