disasters

noun

plural of disaster
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

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 disasters Being able to better understand these trends and know what tools will be available to manage them could thus do much to shore up food networks and prepare for disasters. — Anna Nelson, Foreign Affairs, 4 Sep. 2026 China is often slow to release complete information on the death toll of major disasters. — ABC News, 4 Sep. 2026 Sceye and SoftBank used an emergency alert system designed for large-scale disasters. — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 3 Sep. 2026 The Grand Canyon’s vast, mile-deep landscape may appear timeless, but two devastating disasters have recently struck the iconic natural wonder as the climate crisis intensifies extreme weather. — Chris Boyette, CNN Money, 3 Sep. 2026 These things – federal funding for disasters and political campaigns – should not be paired up in any way. — Chris Brennan, USA Today, 3 Sep. 2026 Noem's replacement at DHS, Markwayne Mullin, was previously a senator from Oklahoma and has extensive experience working with FEMA after major disasters in the state, Rumbach points out. — Rebecca Hersher, NPR, 3 Sep. 2026 The executives said their companies needed additional protection from wildfire costs because utility investors faced higher financial risks from such disasters in California than in other states. — Melody Petersen, Los Angeles Times, 1 Sep. 2026 Information about major disasters is typically released with a delay and without personal stories of victims. — Niranjan Shrestha, Chicago Tribune, 28 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for disasters
  1. catastrophes
  2. failures
  3. tragedies
  4. disappointments
  5. apocalypses
  6. bombs
  7. calamities
  8. losers
Noun
  • That didn’t stop catastrophes like the 2018 fire in the Sierra foothills that destroyed the town of Paradise and killed 85.
    — Michael Finnegan, Los Angeles Times, 30 Aug. 2026
  • Experts warn that catastrophes like this are likely to happen again because rising temperatures in the Himalayas, which are warming faster than the global average, destabilize the region's 60,000 glaciers and trigger more avalanches.
    — Brittney Melton, NPR, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of catastrophes
Noun
  • Alpha has achieved several successful launches, but setbacks and failures have kept Firefly from establishing a routine launch cadence.
    — Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 6 Sep. 2026
  • The convention, a novelty that doesn’t involve the party business typical of a gathering in a presidential year, is expected to contrast what the party sees as GOP wins, with Trump at the helm, against Democratic failures.
    — Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6 Sep. 2026
Definition of failures
Noun
  • The latter is embodied by an underground race of telepathic mutants who worship an unexploded nuclear bomb and find themselves in conflict with the apes, as well as the few surviving humans, on the way to a finale that out-tragedies the original.
    — Jesse Hassenger, Entertainment Weekly, 2 Sep. 2026
  • The fire was among Pakistan’s deadliest recent tragedies involving children.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of tragedies
Noun
  • The opportunities for the Minnesota Twins were plentiful late Wednesday night, and so too were the disappointments.
    — Dan Hayes, New York Times, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Some of the market's biggest stocks could be vulnerable to earnings disappointments, according to Wolfe Research.
    — Deena Zaidi, CNBC, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of disappointments
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
Definition of apocalypses
Noun
  • In 2023, roadway bombs planted by drug cartels in the western Jalisco state killed six people and injured another 14.
    — María Verza, Los Angeles Times, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Nearly 40% of Russia's federal spending is allocated to defense and security, supporting the production of bombs and tanks that are sent directly to the frontlines.
    — Francesca Chambers, USA Today, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of bombs
Noun
  • To avert future calamities, the forest outside Bordeaux must be thinned and its fire breaks widened, said Arthur Guérin-Turcq, a Sorbonne University geographer whose family cultivates pines near Le Porge.
    — Michael Finnegan, Los Angeles Times, 30 Aug. 2026
  • Indeed, conflict and calamities are major factors in financial repression.
    — Jason Ma, Fortune, 23 Aug. 2026
Definition of calamities
Noun
  • Four of the last seven Super Bowl losers missed the playoffs the next season, including the last two (the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers).
    — Chad Graff, New York Times, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Here’s a look at how the global economy has weathered the war — and the winners and losers.
    — Matt Sedensky, Los Angeles Times, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of losers

Browse Nearby Words

disaster
disasters
disastrous
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Cite this Entry

“Disasters.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disasters. Accessed 8 Sep. 2026.

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