ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Disaster

Definition, Meaning & Examples

Pronunciation /dɪˈzɑːs.təː/ · Part of speech noun

Quick meaning: Disaster is a noun meaning An unforeseen event causing great loss, upset or unpleasantness of whatever kind.

Meaning

An unforeseen event causing great loss, upset or unpleasantness of whatever kind.

More Meanings

  1. An unexpected natural or man-made catastrophe of substantial extent causing significant physical damage or destruction, loss of life or sometimes permanent change to the natural environment.
  2. A skateboard trick involving a 180-degree ollie, landing on the center of the board with the front trucks facing towards the ramp and the back trucks over the lip. The skater then leans forwards to return in the ramp.

Example Sentences

People would suffer disasters when society's morality degenerates.
A nod means good, two nods; very good. And then there's the pursing of the lips: disaster.
And no use for anyone to tell Charles that this was because the Family was in mourning for Mr Granville Darracott […]: Charles might only have been second footman at Darracott Place for a couple of months when that disaster occurred, but no one could gammon him into thinking that my lord cared a spangle for his heir.
Floods in northern India, mostly in the small state of Uttarakhand, have wrought disaster on an enormous scale. The early, intense onset of the monsoon on June 14th swelled rivers, washing away roads, bridges, hotels and even whole villages. Rock-filled torrents smashed vehicles and homes, burying victims under rubble and sludge.

Word Forms

Synonyms for disaster

Depending on context, synonyms include adversity, apocalypse, calamity, catastrophe, misery, qualm.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include catastrophe, cataclysm, calamity, tragedy, catastrophic, debacle.

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.