disaster

[dih-zas-ter, -zah-ster] /dɪˈzæs tər, -ˈzɑ stər/
noun
1.
a calamitous event, especially one occurring suddenly and causing great loss of life, damage, or hardship, as a flood, airplane crash, or business failure.
2.
Obsolete. an unfavorable aspect of a star or planet.
Origin
1585-95; < Middle French desastre < Italian disastro, equivalent to dis- dis-1 + astro star < Latin astrum < Greek ástron
Related forms
predisaster, noun
Synonyms
1. mischance, misfortune, misadventure, mishap, accident, blow, reverse, adversity, affliction. Disaster, calamity, catastrophe, cataclysm refer to adverse happenings often occurring suddenly and unexpectedly. A disaster may be caused by carelessness, negligence, bad judgment, or the like, or by natural forces, as a hurricane or flood: a railroad disaster. Calamity suggests great affliction, either personal or general; the emphasis is on the grief or sorrow caused: the calamity of losing a child. Catastrophe refers especially to the tragic outcome of a personal or public situation; the emphasis is on the destruction or irreplaceable loss: the catastrophe of a defeat in battle. Cataclysm, physically an earth-shaking change, refers to a personal or public upheaval of unparalleled violence: a cataclysm that turned his life in a new direction.
Examples from the web for disaster
  • All of these things are a recipe for disaster.
  • They strike more people than any other natural disaster.
  • Today, millions continue to suffer from the man-made disaster.
  • List things you might need in a disaster, such as water and food.
  • If disaster — climate change, nuclear war — ever wipes out the world's crops, we'll need spare seeds.
  • There are many, many emergency kits and disaster plans out there.
  • Indonesia's Aceh province was the area hardest hit by this weekend's disaster.
  • They say their search for meaning in the face of disaster has led to their resolution to be better stewards of this world.
  • Needless to say, it sounded good, but it was a disaster.
  • The tremendous devastation in the disaster area is likely to be a disturbing factor.
British Dictionary definitions for disaster

disaster

/dɪˈzɑːstə/
noun
1.
an occurrence that causes great distress or destruction
2.
a thing, project, etc, that fails or has been ruined
Derived Forms
disastrous, adjective
Word Origin
C16 (originally in the sense: malevolent astral influence): from Italian disastro, from dis- (pejorative) + astro star, from Latin astrum, from Greek astron
Word Origin and History for disaster
n.

1590s, from Middle French désastre (1560s), from Italian disastro "ill-starred," from dis-, here merely pejorative (see dis-) + astro "star, planet," from Latin astrum, from Greek astron (see star (n.)). The sense is astrological, of a calamity blamed on an unfavorable position of a planet.