disaster

noun

di-ˈza-stər How to pronounce disaster (audio)
Definition of disasternext
1
as in catastrophe
a sudden violent event that brings about great loss or destruction hurricanes are natural disasters

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in failure
something that has failed an utter disaster, the play opened and closed on the same miserable night

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 disaster At least 1,252 people were killed and more than 4,200 remain missing, according to the country’s disaster management agency. — ABC News, 3 Sep. 2026 The honorees’ stories span animals searching disaster sites, walking hospital hallways and patrolling one of the busiest cities in the country, along with people working to improve how animals are treated. — Lauren Paige Richeson, USA Today, 3 Sep. 2026 The tribe, which requested a disaster declaration separately, was hit with flash flooding June 2-4 after a heavy rain and hail storm. — John Hult, States Newsroom, 3 Sep. 2026 That season’s trip to the West finals, alas, underscores what a disaster the Leonard era has been for this franchise, even as Leonard generally played amazingly. — John Hollinger, New York Times, 3 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for disaster
Recent Examples of Synonyms for disaster
  1. catastrophe
  2. failure
  3. tragedy
  4. disappointment
  5. apocalypse
  6. bust
  7. calamity
Noun
  • Summary Coastal and high-risk hotels face soaring insurance premiums, up 45-100%, as natural catastrophe losses escalate.
    — Josipa Majic Predin, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2026
  • 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
Definition of catastrophe
Noun
  • The failures resulted in a divorce during the offseason and this exhibition game at Hard Rock Stadium was the first time the couple happened to be at the same place at the same time since the split.
    — Armando Salguero OutKick, FOXNews.com, 29 Aug. 2026
  • For five months, these players have underperformed, much to the chagrin of their front offices and the fans, who repeatedly boo their failures.
    — Dan Freedman, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of failure
Noun
  • The accident was one of the Portuguese capital’s worst tragedies in recent memory and cast a shadow over the city’s ongoing tourism boom.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 3 Sep. 2026
  • These days, the existential challenges faced by newspapers across the country sound more like a Shakespearean tragedy than a comedy.
    — Julie Hinds, Freep.com, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of tragedy
Noun
  • In the comments of an Instagram upload from Bustle, which also showed Stoermer’s Stories post, fans expressed their disappointment with Euphoria‘s conclusion in the comments.
    — Hannah Malach, InStyle, 2 Sep. 2026
  • Those hoping the Iran war ends soon currently face disappointment.
    — Anniek Bao, CNBC, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of disappointment
Noun
  • Why private credit may avoid a ‘crisis-apocalypse’ Blackstone’s scale attracts outsized scrutiny, and investors’ attempts to pull money from its private credit funds earlier this year made headline news.
    — Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, semafor.com, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Messages break down, signals decay, information rots; the stuff of everyday data dystopia and media apocalypse, but in Braxton’s hands, raw material to be shaped into something recombinant and strange.
    — Reed Jackson, SPIN, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of apocalypse
Noun
  • The most typical public piece is a bust, but Plasencia proposed the idea of a monument, and it was accepted.
    — Sarah Moreno, Miami Herald, 31 Aug. 2026
  • At the height of the bust, a hundred and sixty-one smokejumpers fought fires across the state.
    — M. R. O’Connor, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of bust
Noun
  • Young Pavi and her twin sister, Nisha, live in a world that no longer sees the Avatar as humanity’s savior after it was devastated by a calamity.
    — Maira Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 1 Sep. 2026
  • The flooding in Nepal is yet another calamity for a country grimly accustomed to crisis and upheaval.
    — Ishaan Tharoor, New Yorker, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of calamity

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disassociating
disaster
disasters
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Cite this Entry

“Disaster.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disaster. Accessed 4 Sep. 2026.

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