CATACLYSMS Synonyms: 128 Similar and Opposite Words

cataclysms

noun

plural of cataclysm

as in floods

a great flow of water or of something that overwhelms an ancient cataclysm that may have been the basis for the Flood described in the Bible

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in disasters

a sudden violent event that brings about great loss or destruction the earthquake that struck Lisbon in 1755, killing 30,000 people, was one of the greatest cataclysms ever recorded

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in upheavals

a violent disturbance (as of the political or social order) a social cataclysm that gave rise to a new world order

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of cataclysms The destruction of the ozone layer would allow hazardous ultraviolet radiation to rain down on the planet, adding to the series of climate cataclysms that would threaten civilization and most life on Earth. — Kevin Holden Platt, Forbes.com, 16 Aug. 2026 These include supernovae and other cataclysms, such as gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), some of which arise from colliding black holes or neutron stars and are among the most powerful explosions in the universe. — Clara Moskowitz, Scientific American, 1 July 2026 These cataclysms locked inside the Delaware Basin more than 46 billion barrels of technically recoverable crude oil, and 281 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. — Literary Hub, 30 Apr. 2026 And star-formation will continue for trillions of years, providing new lights in the sky and new chances for cataclysms like supernovae, kilonovae, and tidal disruption events. — Big Think, 31 Mar. 2026 At the universe's grandest scales, galaxy clusters collide in slow-motion cataclysms, leaving behind immense, ghostly arcs — vast ribbons of diffuse radio emissions that can stretch across millions of light-years. — Sharmila Kuthunur, Space.com, 21 Nov. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for cataclysms

Noun

The droughts, floods, and crop yield reductions brought on by El Niño represent one of the primary risk factors.

— , CNBC, 3 Sep. 2026
The advancing gas front improves sweep efficiency by penetrating tight, unreached reservoir compartments that standard water-injection floods bypass during secondary extraction campaigns.

— Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 2 Sep. 2026

Definition of floods

Noun

Being able to better understand these trends and know what tools will be available to manage them could thus do much to shore up food networks and prepare for disasters.

— Anna Nelson, Foreign Affairs, 4 Sep. 2026
China is often slow to release complete information on the death toll of major disasters.

— ABC News, ABC News, 4 Sep. 2026

Definition of disasters

Noun

The landscape stayed quiet for a while, until a series of upheavals in the American League West.

— Andy McCullough, New York Times, 3 Sep. 2026
The scandal in question erupted in the eighteen-thirties in the Prussian college town of Königsberg—today, after wars and upheavals, the isolated Russian city of Kaliningrad.

— Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2026

Definition of upheavals

Noun

That didn’t stop catastrophes like the 2018 fire in the Sierra foothills that destroyed the town of Paradise and killed 85.

— Michael Finnegan, Los Angeles Times, 30 Aug. 2026
Experts warn that catastrophes like this are likely to happen again because rising temperatures in the Himalayas, which are warming faster than the global average, destabilize the region's 60,000 glaciers and trigger more avalanches.

— Brittney Melton, NPR, 27 Aug. 2026

Definition of catastrophes

Noun

After the earthquakes, American Airlines transported relief supplies to Venezuela on a Boeing 737.

— Vinod Sreeharsha, Miami Herald, 28 Aug. 2026
Critics say nuclear energy is too expensive and still faces risks from natural disasters such as earthquakes or floods.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of earthquakes

Noun

Based on Thornton Wilder’s The Skin of Our Teeth, the surrealist musical follows one nuclear family across thousands of years and three apocalypses.

— Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 10 Dec. 2025
And a lot of the pseudepigrapha, like the fake gospels and fake apocalypses, fill in gaps in the record that can serve latter-day, post-biblical purposes.

— JSTOR Daily, JSTOR Daily, 16 Oct. 2025

Definition of apocalypses

Noun

To avert future calamities, the forest outside Bordeaux must be thinned and its fire breaks widened, said Arthur Guérin-Turcq, a Sorbonne University geographer whose family cultivates pines near Le Porge.

— Michael Finnegan, Los Angeles Times, 30 Aug. 2026
Indeed, conflict and calamities are major factors in financial repression.

— Jason Ma, Fortune, 23 Aug. 2026

Definition of calamities

Browse Nearby Words

cataclysmal

cataclysms

catacomb

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Cataclysms.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cataclysms. Accessed 5 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of cataclysms

noun

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

matriculate

Popular in Grammar & Usage

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

A List of Most Commonly Confused Words

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Popular in Wordplay

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 4

Popular

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke

Games & Quizzes