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disaster

noun

di-ˈza-stər How to pronounce disaster (audio)
Definition of disasternext
1
as in catastrophe
a sudden violent event that brings about great loss or destruction hurricanes are natural disasters

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in failure
something that has failed an utter disaster, the play opened and closed on the same miserable night

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 disaster In 1987, the ferry Dona Paz sank after colliding with a fuel tanker in the central Philippines, killing more than 4,300 people in the world's deadliest peacetime maritime disaster. — CBS News, 10 Sep. 2026 Barring an epic disaster, Harbaugh’s job isn’t on the line in a season that is more about establishing a new culture. — Nicki Jhabvala, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2026 An old idea to increase all Social Security recipients' benefits by the same dollar amount each year is gaining traction, but some say this would be a disaster for middle-income Americans. — Medora Lee, USA Today, 9 Sep. 2026 Doomsday typically indicates disaster, but for Marvel Studios that term is forecasting a booming box office. — Angelique Jackson, Variety, 9 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for disaster
Recent Examples of Synonyms for disaster
  1. catastrophe
  2. failure
  3. tragedy
  4. disappointment
  5. apocalypse
  6. bust
  7. calamity
Noun
  • More than 1,000 people have been confirmed dead and thousands remain missing after the catastrophe, according to authorities in both countries.
    — Simone McCarthy, CNN Money, 6 Sep. 2026
  • As the story moves breathlessly through the neighborhood’s streets and interiors, Kodeih, who also edited the feature, and cinematographer Tony Kopec zero in on a jumpy, kinetic tension between looming catastrophe and potential triumph.
    — Sheri Linden, HollywoodReporter, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of catastrophe
Noun
  • Their failure to receive one may be attributed to their having vague symptoms, such as a general feeling of malaise, weakness, or fluctuating muscle pain.
    — Jerome Groopman, The New York Review of Books, 5 Sep. 2026
  • Compounding the issue was UM’s failure to get to the quarterback.
    — Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 5 Sep. 2026
Definition of failure
Noun
  • Ditka has been losing contemporaries since July of 1964, when Willie Gallimore’s Volkswagen swerved and rolled, killing Gallimore and Bo Farrington in a training camp tragedy.
    — Dan Pompei, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2026
  • For other families quietly and often despairingly living with similar problems of addiction and mental illness involving their children, the tragedy is an unnerving, looming specter — a worst-case scenario made real.
    — Gary Baum, HollywoodReporter, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of tragedy
Noun
  • Chubb was a slight disappointment in his Bills debut from a pass-rushing perspective.
    — Joe Buscaglia, New York Times, 16 Sep. 2026
  • And Harvey faces his overbearing father’s disappointment most glaringly with the public humiliation of an emotional breakdown while taking part in an amateur wrestling match the bodybuilder entered to prove his physical strength.
    — Etan Vlessing, HollywoodReporter, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of disappointment
Noun
  • Those forecasts add hope for office workers after top AI leaders previously signaled a jobs apocalypse was imminent.
    — Jason Ma, Fortune, 5 Sep. 2026
  • Why private credit may avoid a ‘crisis-apocalypse’ Blackstone’s scale attracts outsized scrutiny, and investors’ attempts to pull money from its private credit funds earlier this year made headline news.
    — Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, semafor.com, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of apocalypse
Noun
  • And that was before Aaron Donald, a three-time defensive player of the year, ended a two-year retirement to join a team about to embark on a boom-or-bust season.
    — Gary Klein, Los Angeles Times, 6 Sep. 2026
  • But for anyone disturbed by the way To Catch a Predator executes its faux-law enforcement busts, the movie risks becoming viscerally unpleasant.
    — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 5 Sep. 2026
Definition of bust
Noun
  • On the present trajectory, the US and China are hurtling toward the very calamity that Kissinger warned about.
    — Andy Browne, semafor.com, 15 Sep. 2026
  • Their images, as much as those from stationary TV cameras or professional photographers, became our window onto the calamity.
    — David Friend, Vanity Fair, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of calamity

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disassociating
disaster
disasters
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Cite this Entry

“Disaster.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disaster. Accessed 18 Sep. 2026.

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