ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Catastrophe

Definition, Meaning & Examples

Pronunciation /kəˈtæstɹəfi/ · Part of speech noun

Quick meaning: Catastrophe is a noun meaning Any large and disastrous event of great significance.

Meaning

Any large and disastrous event of great significance.

More Meanings

  1. (insurance) A disaster beyond expectations.
  2. (narratology) The dramatic event that initiates the resolution of the plot; the dénouement.
  3. (mathematics) A type of bifurcation, where a system shifts between two stable states.

Example Sentences

The Chernobyl disaster was a catastrophe.
Between these high lights accumulated disaster, social catastrophe.
Am I not a man? And is a man not stupid? I'm a man, so I married. Wife, children, house, everything. The full catastrophe.
Pat : he comes like the Cataſtrophe of the old Comedie : my Cue is villanous Melancholly, with a ſighe like Tom o’ Bedlam.

Word Forms

Synonyms for catastrophe

Depending on context, synonyms include calamity, cataclysm, disaster, tragedy.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include disaster, cataclysm, calamity, tragedy, devastation, havoc.

Related Dictionary Tools

Sources & Attribution

FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0

Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.