CATASTROPHE
Dictionary entry overview: What does catastrophe mean?
• CATASTROPHE (noun)
The noun CATASTROPHE has 3 senses:
1. an event resulting in great loss and misfortune
2. a state of extreme (usually irremediable) ruin and misfortune
3. a sudden violent change in the earth's surface
Familiarity information: CATASTROPHE used as a noun is uncommon.
Dictionary entry details
• CATASTROPHE (noun)
Meaning:
An event resulting in great loss and misfortune
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural events
Synonyms:
calamity; catastrophe; tragedy; cataclysm; disaster
Context examples:
the whole city was affected by the irremediable calamity / the earthquake was a disaster
Hypernyms ("catastrophe" is a kind of...):
bad luck; misfortune (unnecessary and unforeseen trouble resulting from an unfortunate event)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "catastrophe"):
act of God; force majeure; inevitable accident; unavoidable casualty; vis major (a natural and unavoidable catastrophe that interrupts the expected course of events)
tsunami (a cataclysm resulting from a destructive sea wave caused by an earthquake or volcanic eruption)
tidal wave (an unusual (and often destructive) rise of water along the seashore caused by a storm or a combination of wind and high tide)
visitation (any disaster or catastrophe)
plague (any large scale calamity (especially when thought to be sent by God))
meltdown (a disaster comparable to a nuclear meltdown)
kiss of death (something that is ruinous)
famine (a severe shortage of food (as through crop failure) resulting in violent hunger and starvation and death)
apocalypse (a cosmic cataclysm in which God destroys the ruling powers of evil)
Meaning:
A state of extreme (usually irremediable) ruin and misfortune
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Synonyms:
disaster; catastrophe
Context examples:
lack of funds has resulted in a catastrophe for our school system / his policies were a disaster
Hypernyms ("catastrophe" is a kind of...):
adversity; hard knocks; hardship (a state of misfortune or affliction)
Meaning:
A sudden violent change in the earth's surface
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural phenomena
Synonyms:
cataclysm; catastrophe
Hypernyms ("catastrophe" is a kind of...):
geological phenomenon (a natural phenomenon involving the structure or composition of the earth)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "catastrophe"):
nuclear winter (a long period of darkness and extreme cold that scientists predict would follow a full-scale nuclear war; a layer of dust and smoke in the atmosphere would cover the earth and block the rays of the sun; most living organisms would perish)
