1
as in disasters
a sudden violent event that brings about great loss or destruction
more than one natural catastrophe has threatened to destroy their farm over the years
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in failures
something that has failed
the movie was a catastrophe, nearly bankrupting the studio that produced it
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of catastrophes
Any negotiation that is seen as overly rewarding aggression will set in motion catastrophes all over the world.
—
Alex Nitzberg, FOXNews.com, 5 Feb. 2026
However, within resources available, countries can build disaster and health response capabilities to mitigate physical and biological catastrophes.
—Edward Lotterman, Twin Cities, 18 Jan. 2026
An observer of catastrophes, come what may.
—Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 Jan. 2026
Across their nearly 100-year football rivalry, USC and Notre Dame have only paused their annual matchup for global catastrophes like World War II and the Covid-19 pandemic.
—Austin Turner, CBS News, 22 Dec. 2025
Kevin Stefanski might be in his final days as the Cleveland Browns head coach because of the Deshaun Watson trade and all of the catastrophes that followed.
—Jason Lloyd, New York Times, 17 Dec. 2025
With both courtesies and catastrophes refusing to conform, the canton’s school board, publishers, and clergy were forced to produce multiple editions of primers, textbooks, and catechisms; sometimes five parallel print runs were needed for a population the size of a town.
—Simon Akam, New Yorker, 1 Dec. 2025
The most severe of the parade's many catastrophes saw the Cat in the Hat balloon strike a streetlight at 72nd Street and Central Park West, causing a horizontal metal arm to snap off and fall onto the crowd below.
—Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 27 Nov. 2025
Clara and Riley — with their big hearts and weak armor, untempered by irony, vulnerable to the catastrophes of disillusionment — might as well be our patron saints.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 21 Nov. 2025
Alex Nitzberg, FOXNews.com, 5 Feb. 2026
However, within resources available, countries can build disaster and health response capabilities to mitigate physical and biological catastrophes.
—Edward Lotterman, Twin Cities, 18 Jan. 2026
An observer of catastrophes, come what may.
—Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 Jan. 2026
Across their nearly 100-year football rivalry, USC and Notre Dame have only paused their annual matchup for global catastrophes like World War II and the Covid-19 pandemic.
—Austin Turner, CBS News, 22 Dec. 2025
Kevin Stefanski might be in his final days as the Cleveland Browns head coach because of the Deshaun Watson trade and all of the catastrophes that followed.
—Jason Lloyd, New York Times, 17 Dec. 2025
With both courtesies and catastrophes refusing to conform, the canton’s school board, publishers, and clergy were forced to produce multiple editions of primers, textbooks, and catechisms; sometimes five parallel print runs were needed for a population the size of a town.
—Simon Akam, New Yorker, 1 Dec. 2025
The most severe of the parade's many catastrophes saw the Cat in the Hat balloon strike a streetlight at 72nd Street and Central Park West, causing a horizontal metal arm to snap off and fall onto the crowd below.
—Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 27 Nov. 2025
Clara and Riley — with their big hearts and weak armor, untempered by irony, vulnerable to the catastrophes of disillusionment — might as well be our patron saints.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 21 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for catastrophes
Noun
-
The next commissioner must prepare for more frequent disasters while managing long term coastal erosion.—
Eleanor Dearman,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
14 Feb. 2026
-
The February 2021 freeze became one of the deadliest and costliest disasters in state history.—
Newsroom Meteorologist,
Houston Chronicle,
13 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The Cowboys’ owner and general manager saw the failures in his defense during the 2025 season.—
Dallas Morning News,
Dallas Morning News,
11 Feb. 2026
-
The Justice Department has acknowledged these redaction failures.—
CNN.com Wire Service,
Mercury News,
11 Feb. 2026
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
Noun
-
Ensuring safe separation between aircraft is vital to preventing tragedies like the collision over the Potomac River, and reports of serious safety concerns from airline pilots paint a troubling picture of safety over Burbank in particular.—
Marc Scribner,
Oc Register,
8 Feb. 2026
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After many tragedies, the UK’s National Health Service is doing precisely the opposite.—
Betsy McCaughey,
Boston Herald,
8 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
What Trump is most certainly reviewing is the viability of Noem as a Cabinet secretary, who has rapidly become a scapegoat for the predictable calamities of the high-visibility deployment of border guards as SWAT troops in urban centers.—
Chris Stirewalt,
The Hill,
27 Jan. 2026
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The calamities of war shuttered many of the earliest kissa, as entire collections of jazz records were lost.—
Nneka M. Okona,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
21 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Catastrophes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/catastrophes. Accessed 17 Feb. 2026.
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