1
as in catastrophes
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 failures
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 disasters
Trump has expressed a desire to push more responsibility for disasters down to states.
—
Gabriela Aoun Angueira, Fortune, 11 Apr. 2026
His boldest innovation is to invoke not past glories but past disasters, summoning the ghosts of the United States’ catastrophic interventions in Iraq.
—Fintan O’Toole, The New York Review of Books, 9 Apr. 2026
Last month, Hawaii endured two flooding disasters that forced hundreds of rescues and wiped out entire streets of homes across Oahu alone.
—Alexandra Banner, CNN Money, 8 Apr. 2026
The proposal provides for some exceptions, such as residences unoccupied because of military service, disasters or an owner’s death.
—Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2026
California has already experienced devastating wildfires and extreme weather — common sense tells us that constraints like this could magnify future disasters dramatically.
—Kimberly Thorner, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Apr. 2026
Hundreds have been killed in boat disasters in recent years.
—ABC News, 8 Apr. 2026
In this century, Hoboken’s disasters have been vivid enough to make their own news.
—Eric Klinenberg, New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2026
All of these downtowns are traffic disasters.
—Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 2 Apr. 2026
Gabriela Aoun Angueira, Fortune, 11 Apr. 2026
His boldest innovation is to invoke not past glories but past disasters, summoning the ghosts of the United States’ catastrophic interventions in Iraq.
—Fintan O’Toole, The New York Review of Books, 9 Apr. 2026
Last month, Hawaii endured two flooding disasters that forced hundreds of rescues and wiped out entire streets of homes across Oahu alone.
—Alexandra Banner, CNN Money, 8 Apr. 2026
The proposal provides for some exceptions, such as residences unoccupied because of military service, disasters or an owner’s death.
—Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2026
California has already experienced devastating wildfires and extreme weather — common sense tells us that constraints like this could magnify future disasters dramatically.
—Kimberly Thorner, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Apr. 2026
Hundreds have been killed in boat disasters in recent years.
—ABC News, 8 Apr. 2026
In this century, Hoboken’s disasters have been vivid enough to make their own news.
—Eric Klinenberg, New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2026
All of these downtowns are traffic disasters.
—Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 2 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for disasters
Noun
-
Shaboozey doesn’t identify as a poli-sci expert but could still acknowledge human-rights catastrophes.—
Craig Jenkins,
Vulture,
8 Apr. 2026
-
In 1941, Japan’s Pearl Harbor surprise attack triggered a nearly 2-year chain of American military catastrophes.—
Gil Troy,
New York Daily News,
29 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The city now has a golden opportunity to learn from past failures by adopting a fairer, more accountable standard.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
15 Apr. 2026
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Severe storms on Monday night at the weir in the West Michigan community of Manistee caused a series of power failures to the holding tanks and the equipment that keep steelhead alive during egg collection efforts, the DNR said.—
Paula Wethington,
CBS News,
15 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The saddies of Enid’s notebook all a little uncanny, as in any good comic, yet terribly human in their tragedies.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
13 Apr. 2026
-
As in all tragedies of chivalry, the alliance will split.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
10 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Have there been any disappointments?—
Caroline Mimbs Nyce,
New Yorker,
17 Apr. 2026
-
Mirroring the changing trends of the time, the Puente albums were commercial disappointments.—
Ernesto Lechner,
Rolling Stone,
15 Apr. 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
-
Anyone who is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace, is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs.—
Jordan Freiman,
CBS News,
12 Apr. 2026
-
Stantis’ drawing shows Jesus hanging on a cross with oversized bombs and mortar shells flying helter-skelter in the air.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
11 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
For certain great artists, Meis believes, the creative act is a safe harbor where life’s pressures, exigencies, and calamities aren’t so much denied or resolved as reimagined as pictorial dramas.—
Jed Perl,
The New York Review of Books,
4 Apr. 2026
-
Colorado went 43-119, a record that belongs in a museum exhibit beside other modern-era calamities, behind glass.—
Jenny Catlin,
New York Times,
25 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Semifinalists earn 750,000 euros and first round losers get 87,000 euros.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
16 Apr. 2026
-
This was an elimination game with the winners getting another opportunity to extend their season and the losers going on vacation.—
Janis Carr,
Oc Register,
16 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Disasters.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disasters. Accessed 18 Apr. 2026.
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