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catastrophe
[ kuh-tas-truh-fee ]
noun
- a sudden and widespread disaster:
the catastrophe of war.
Synonyms: ,
Antonyms:
- any misfortune, mishap, or failure; fiasco:
The play was so poor our whole evening was a catastrophe.
- a final event or conclusion, usually an unfortunate one; a disastrous end:
the great catastrophe of the Old South at Appomattox.
Antonyms:
- (in a drama) the point at which the circumstances overcome the central motive, introducing the close or conclusion; dénouement. Compare catastasis, epitasis, protasis.
- Geology. a sudden, violent disturbance, especially of a part of the surface of the earth; cataclysm.
- Also called ca·tas·tro·phe func·tion [k, uh, -, tas, -tr, uh, -fee fuhngk-sh, uh, n]. Mathematics. any of the mathematical functions that describe the discontinuities that are treated in catastrophe theory.
catastrophe
/ kəˈtæstrəfɪ; ˌkætəˈstrɒfɪk /
noun
- a sudden, extensive, or notable disaster or misfortune
- the denouement of a play, esp a classical tragedy
- a final decisive event, usually causing a disastrous end
- Also calledcataclysm any sudden and violent change in the earth's surface caused by flooding, earthquake, or some other rapid process
Derived Forms
- ˌٲˈٰDZ, adverb
- catastrophic, adjective
Other Word Forms
- ··ٰDZ· [kat-, uh, -, strof, -ik], ··ٰDZ·· ·ٲ·ٰ· adjective
- ···ٲ·ٰ· noun
Word History and Origins
Origin of catastrophe1
Word History and Origins
Origin of catastrophe1
Synonym Study
Example Sentences
The humanitarian catastrophe has already begun, as the New York Times reports:
Climate change and impending catastrophe loom over every story.
Those concessions include allowing them to charge policyholders for the cost of reinsurance they buy to protect themselves from catastrophes.
Faced with the climate catastrophe, talk of government "efficiency" is just a distraction, at best.
Some of the pieces in the book written before this real-life catastrophe, though, suffer from the rote world-weariness of the columnist accustomed to griping to order.
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