disaster synonyms

disaster

n.

catastrophe, accident, calamity, misfortune, mishap, debacle, cataclysm, casualty, mischance, emergency, adversity, harm, misadventure, collapse, slip, fall, collision, crash, hazard, crash landing, setback, defeat, sinking, flood, failure, holocaust, affliction, fell stroke, woe, trouble, scourge, depression, grief, bale, undoing, overthrow, bad luck, ill luck, ruination, bane, fiasco, curse, tragedy, blight, visitation, contretemps, exigency, infliction, extremity, downfall, evil day, rainy day, crushing reverse, great mishap, terrible accident, gathering clouds, sudden misfortune, adverse happening, bankruptcy, upset, blast, blow, comedown, fire, blaze, wreck, cave-in, act of God, crackup, smashup, washout*, flop*, bust*, hard luck*; see also catastrophe, collision 1, misfortune 1.

disaster implies great or sudden misfortune that results in loss of life, property, etc. or that is ruinous to an undertaking; calamity suggests a grave misfortune that brings deep distress or sorrow to an individual or to the people at large; catastrophe is specifically applied to a disastrous end or outcome; cataclysm suggests a great upheaval, esp. a political or social one, that causes sudden and violent change with attending distress, suffering, etc.

Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.