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
At least 844 people died in what was one of the worst maritime disasters in American history.
—
Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Apr. 2026
All of these downtowns are traffic disasters.
—Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 2 Apr. 2026
That is the highest-level designation for severe accidents, placing it alongside the fatal Challenger (1986) and Columbia (2003) shuttle disasters in terms of gravity.
—Chris Young, Interesting Engineering, 31 Mar. 2026
But the Gulf also has been the scene of environmental disasters such as BP’s Deepwater Horizon blowout in 2010 that killed 11 workers and spilled 134 million gallons (500 million liters) of oil.
—Matthew Brown, Fortune, 31 Mar. 2026
But the Gulf also has been the scene of environmental disasters such as BP’s Deepwater Horizon blowout in 2010 that killed 11 workers and spilled 134 million gallons of oil.
—Matthew Brown, Los Angeles Times, 31 Mar. 2026
That’s a strange thing, because success and failure can both be disasters of different kinds.
—Carly Tagen-Dye, PEOPLE, 31 Mar. 2026
An issue once reserved for the NFL combine or dating app disasters has now reached the shores of MLB.
—Sam Blum, New York Times, 30 Mar. 2026
The country observed three days of national mourning for one of the worst air disasters recorded in recent memory.
—ABC News, 27 Mar. 2026
Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Apr. 2026
All of these downtowns are traffic disasters.
—Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 2 Apr. 2026
That is the highest-level designation for severe accidents, placing it alongside the fatal Challenger (1986) and Columbia (2003) shuttle disasters in terms of gravity.
—Chris Young, Interesting Engineering, 31 Mar. 2026
But the Gulf also has been the scene of environmental disasters such as BP’s Deepwater Horizon blowout in 2010 that killed 11 workers and spilled 134 million gallons (500 million liters) of oil.
—Matthew Brown, Fortune, 31 Mar. 2026
But the Gulf also has been the scene of environmental disasters such as BP’s Deepwater Horizon blowout in 2010 that killed 11 workers and spilled 134 million gallons of oil.
—Matthew Brown, Los Angeles Times, 31 Mar. 2026
That’s a strange thing, because success and failure can both be disasters of different kinds.
—Carly Tagen-Dye, PEOPLE, 31 Mar. 2026
An issue once reserved for the NFL combine or dating app disasters has now reached the shores of MLB.
—Sam Blum, New York Times, 30 Mar. 2026
The country observed three days of national mourning for one of the worst air disasters recorded in recent memory.
—ABC News, 27 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for disasters
Noun
-
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
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But the effects on Qatar’s economy and global energy markets were profound, offering a glimpse of the catastrophes that might follow a broader Iranian military campaign against energy facilities across the Persian Gulf.—
Shane Harris,
The Atlantic,
26 Mar. 2026
Noun
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When a series of tragic failures at New Era Community Health Center left scores of the county’s weakest, poorest and most erratic residents in danger, Florida health inspectors took the unusual step of threatening to shut down the home.—
Carol Marbin Miller,
Miami Herald,
2 Apr. 2026
-
In 2023, the number dropped significantly, even as supervision failures within jails persisted, down to 63.—
Ryan Oehrli
April 1,
Charlotte Observer,
1 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
With Israel warning Iranians not to take trains today, and Iranian officials urging its people to surround power plants as human shields, the next few hours may hold terrible tragedies.—
Mohammed Sergie,
semafor.com,
7 Apr. 2026
-
But one metro Atlanta man is working to ensure those tragedies are not forgotten, and to remind drivers that many of these crashes are preventable.—
Alexa Liacko,
CBS News,
2 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
But there is something so wonderful about being fifty and having your own job and having been through so many disappointments that a situation like this is filtered through different experiences and people—the narrator’s discernment has an incredible clarity.—
Cressida Leyshon,
New Yorker,
22 Mar. 2026
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The New York Mets and Atlanta Braves were two of baseball’s biggest disappointments last year, but there is good reason to believe both will be much improved heading into 2026.—
Mac Cerullo,
Boston Herald,
21 Mar. 2026
Noun
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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
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B-52s can also be used to provide close air support for ground troops by acting as enormous loitering munition silos able to drop precision bombs where needed.—
Christopher McFadden,
Interesting Engineering,
5 Apr. 2026
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The New York Times, citing US intelligence reports, said Iranian personnel have been digging out underground missile bunkers and silos struck by American and Israeli bombs and returning them to operation hours after attacks.—
Arsalan Shahla,
Fortune,
4 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
-
People who need services are the biggest losers.—
Carol Marbin Miller,
Miami Herald,
2 Apr. 2026
-
There should not be winners and losers.—
Mark Denzler,
Chicago Tribune,
2 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Disasters.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disasters. Accessed 9 Apr. 2026.
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