catastrophe
Syllables: ca·tas·tro·pheUK/kəˈtæstɹəfi/
catastrophe noun: any large and disastrous event of great significance.
Noun
catastrophe (countable and uncountable, plural catastrophes)
- Any large and disastrous event of great significance.
- The Chernobyl disaster was a catastrophe.
- Last night, after the brief sitting of the House of Lords, and before catastrophe befell the Government in the Commons, I had a long chat with the Premier, in which he discussed the Home Rule question and his relations with it in perfectly frank manner.1896, Henry W[illiam] Lucy, “[Session 1894.] A Bad Beginning.”, in A Diary of the Home Rule Parliament, 1892-1895, London; Paris; Melbourne, Vic.: Cassell and Company, Limited, page 320
- A disaster beyond expectations.
- The dramatic event that initiates the resolution of the plot; the dénouement.
- Pat : he comes like the Cataſtrophe of the old Comedie : my Cue is villanous Melancholly, with a ſighe like Tom o’ Bedlam.c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
- A type of bifurcation, where a system shifts between two stable states.
catastrophe meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
catastrophe in Hindi
- any large and disastrous event of great significance
- तबाही tabāhī, आपदा āpdā, आफ़त āfat, मुसीबत musībat
catastrophe in Tamil
- அழிவு, கெடுமுடிவு, கேடான முடிவு, தலைதடுமாற்றம், பேரழிவு, நாசகரம்
catastrophe in Urdu
- any large and disastrous event of great significance
- آفَت āfat, مُصِیبَت musībat, تَباہی tabāhī
catastrophe in Bengali
- any large and disastrous event of great significance
- দুর্যোগ durjōg, আফত aphot
More languagesFewer languages
- catastrophe in Telugu
- నిర్వహణము nirvahaṇamu
- catastrophe in Malayalam
- മഹാദുരന്തം, അത്യാപത്ത്, കൊടും വിപത്ത്, ദാരുണസംഭവം
- catastrophe in Kannada
- ಮಹಾವಿಪತ್ತು, ಭೀಕರ ಅನಾಹುತ, ದೊಡ್ಡ ಆಪತ್ತು, ದುರಂತ ಭಾಗ
- catastrophe in Sinhala
- ව්යසන wyasana
- catastrophe in Pashto
- فاجعه fāje'a, آفت āfát, مصيبت mosibát
- catastrophe in Arabic
- كَارِثَة kāriṯa, فَاجِعَة fājiʕa, مُصِيبَة muṣība, آفَة ʔāfa
- catastrophe in Malay
- bencana
- catastrophe in Indonesian
- bencana, katastrofe
- catastrophe in Thai
- พิบัติ pí-bàt, ภัยพิบัติ pai-pí-bàt, มหันตภัย
- catastrophe in Vietnamese
- tai ương, tai họa lớn, thảm hoạ, thảm họa
- catastrophe in Myanmar
- ဘေးဆိုး bhe:hcui:
Examples of catastrophe in a sentence
- Natural catastrophes plagued the colonists till they abandoned the pestilent marshland.
- This also happened after the military catastrophe of the Ukrainian Balakliia offensive.
- In general, unlike many on the political right, eco-fascists concede the reality of looming ecological catastrophe.
Forms of catastrophe
| plural | catastrophes |
|---|---|
| alternative form (archaic) | catastrophë |
Origin of catastrophe
From Ancient Greek καταστροφή (katastrophḗ), from καταστρέφω (katastréphō, “to overturn”), from κατά (katá, “down, against”) + στρέφω (stréphō, “to turn”).
Words formed from catastrophe
- Carter catastrophe
- castrophony
- catastrophal
- catastrophe bond
- catastrophe theory
- catastrophin
- catastrophize
- catastroscope
- cat bond
- climatastrophe
- climate catastrophe
- cosy catastrophe
- cowtastrophe
- cozy catastrophe
- disastrophe
- ecocatastrophe
- error catastrophe
- eucatastrophe
- oxygenation catastrophe
- oxygen catastrophe
- supercatastrophe
- ultraviolet catastrophe
- vacuum catastrophe
Phrases with catastrophe
Words that rhyme with catastrophe
Questions about catastrophe
- What does catastrophe mean?
- Catastrophe means any large and disastrous event of great significance.
- What is catastrophe in Hindi?
- Catastrophe in Hindi is तबाही (tabāhī), आपदा (āpdā), आफ़त (āfat). See Catastrophe meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is catastrophe?
- Catastrophe is a noun.
- How do you pronounce catastrophe?
- Catastrophe is pronounced /kəˈtæstɹəfi/ (UK).
- What is the plural of catastrophe?
- The plural of catastrophe is catastrophes.
Words near catastrophe in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: catastrophe (page history and authors); catastrophe (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); నిర్వహణము (Telugu) (page history and authors); catastrophe (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); catastrophe (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-catastrophe.ogg.
Cite this entry: “catastrophe.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/catastrophe. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.