Word.ws English Dictionary

catastroscope

catastroscope noun: a catastrophe.

Noun

catastroscope (plural catastroscopes)

  1. (dated, excessive, humorous, usually) A catastrophe
    • Confronted with such a word as "catastrophe," Durante runs amok and produces "catastroscope," which the late Robert Benchley argued was a great improvement. Even such a modest adjective as “exuberant” feels the edge of Durante’s scorn. It comes out “exubilant,” which is not only funny but more...1947 October, Cameron Shipp, "America's No. 1 Clown" Coronet vol. 22 no. 10 p. 17
    • He'd like a tip like that, I says to myself, and to surprise him I slips in 10 pounds on the horse for him. And the horse loses to Pearson! A catastroscope!1952 July 27, Jimmy Durante, “I Ups to London”, in Evening Star, Washington, DC, page 28

Examples of catastroscope in a sentence

  • 2007, Max Sollitt, Catastroscopes: A Creative and Adventurous Australian Bloke's Battle with Clinical Depression and Anno Domini, (Melbourne : Temple House) →ISBN
  • Confronted with such a word as "catastrophe," Durante runs amok and produces "catastroscope," which the late Robert Benchley argued was a great improvement.1947 October, Cameron Shipp, "America's No. 1 Clown" Coronet vol. 22 no. 10 p. 17
  • “What a ghastly catastroscope,” lamented his fellow-author.1955, Anthony Buckeridge, Our Friend Jennings, London, Glasgow: Collins, page 214:
  • As a connoisseur of catastroscopes, I am astonished there was no reference to a uniquely appalling show which elbowed itself onto the schedules about a decade ago.1989 September 12, Alan Cookman, “One Man's Week”, in Evening Sentinel, Stoke-on-Trent, UK, page 19:
  • A catastroscope here at Harringay Arena!1991, Dick Cate, The incredible Willie Scrimshaw, London: A. & C. Black, →ISBN, page 15:

Forms of catastroscope

pluralcatastroscopes

Origin of catastroscope

Blend of catastrophe + -scope. Associated with comedian Jimmy Durante by the 1940s, and the Jennings books of Anthony Buckeridge in the 1950s.

Questions about catastroscope

What does catastroscope mean?
Catastroscope means a catastrophe.
How do you use catastroscope in a sentence?
2007, Max Sollitt, Catastroscopes: A Creative and Adventurous Australian Bloke's Battle with Clinical Depression and Anno Domini, (Melbourne : Temple House) →ISBN
What part of speech is catastroscope?
Catastroscope is a noun.
What is the plural of catastroscope?
The plural of catastroscope is catastroscopes.

Words near catastroscope in the dictionary

  1. catastrophizers
  2. catastrophizes
  3. catastrophizing
  4. catastrophy
  5. catastrophë
  6. catastroscope
  7. catataxis
  8. catatectic
  9. catathermometer
  10. catathermometers
  11. catathesis

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: catastroscope (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.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-catastroscope.wav.

Cite this entry: “catastroscope.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/catastroscope. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.