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
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Recent Examples of disaster
And if that had happened, the invasion would have ended in disaster.
—
Andrea Thompson, Scientific American, 29 May 2026
Rebuilding from the Thursday disaster will not be easy.
—Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 29 May 2026
This was a recipe for disaster.
—William Guillory, New York Times, 29 May 2026
Titanic Sinks Tonight tells the story of the final hours of the most famous sea disaster of all time.
—Max Goldbart, Deadline, 28 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for disaster
Andrea Thompson, Scientific American, 29 May 2026
Rebuilding from the Thursday disaster will not be easy.
—Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 29 May 2026
This was a recipe for disaster.
—William Guillory, New York Times, 29 May 2026
Titanic Sinks Tonight tells the story of the final hours of the most famous sea disaster of all time.
—Max Goldbart, Deadline, 28 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for disaster
Recent Examples of Synonyms for disaster
Noun
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Liaquat Ahamed has spent his career studying the moments when the world’s financial system breaks down — the bad bets, the collective delusions, and the geopolitical accidents that tip economies into catastrophe.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
2 June 2026
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Richards had begun privately doubting the timeline—traveling to Paris and London for modeling work, looking around, and noticing an absence of catastrophe.—
JP Mangalindan,
Time,
1 June 2026
Noun
-
Her son was cited for careless driving and failure to signal.—
Topher Sanders,
ProPublica,
2 June 2026
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Blue Origin should be able to identify the cause of the failure and get the rocket flying safely again.—
Eric Berger,
ArsTechnica,
2 June 2026
Noun
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The sheriff says that 15 to 20 community members stepped up to help in the aftermath of this tragedy.—
Olivia Young,
CBS News,
3 June 2026
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Convoluted race shaped by tragedy As the California Senate president last fall, McGuire helped Democrats successfully engineer and secure passage of Proposition 50.—
Reeti Malhotra,
Sacbee.com,
3 June 2026
Noun
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The World Cup, though, also serves crushing disappointment as very few things can.—
Ben Church,
CNN Money,
28 May 2026
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Difficult conversations are postponed because disappointment, irritation or distance feel too costly.—
Benjamin Laker,
Forbes.com,
28 May 2026
Noun
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Now, her portrayal of Zosia, the hive mind emissary sent to cajole Rhea Seehorn’s Carol into joining the world’s collective consciousness in Vince Gilligan’s Apple TV sci-fi tale of a happiness apocalypse, has stirred up Emmy buzz.—
Natalie Oganesyan,
Deadline,
31 May 2026
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Check out this 1997 live TV version of Paranoid Android, which veers from lullaby to apocalypse within the space of a few minutes.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
30 May 2026
Noun
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But at The Post, the promise of reinvention-or-bust under Will Lewis came with a battered newsroom, a mass exodus of talent, a flood of scandals, lots of internal turmoil — and a business still in real trouble.—
Brian Stelter,
CNN Money,
3 June 2026
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There’s a similar amount of personality within Hadspen House, where a Roman bust wears a necklace of seashells and a snug room is decorated in the colors of the croquet set outside on the lawn.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
2 June 2026
Noun
-
Madonna has made music through various calamities that at the time felt world-ending — wars, political unrest, financial collapse — so the terrors of 2026 don’t seem to faze her.—
Scottie Andrew,
CNN Money,
2 June 2026
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In her twenties, Goodman married a man named William Snyder, a union that was soon marked by calamity.—
Rachel Syme,
New Yorker,
1 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Disaster.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disaster. Accessed 4 Jun. 2026.
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