disaster

noun

An unexpected natural or man-made catastrophe of substantial extent causing significant physical damage or destruction, loss of life or sometimes permanent change to the natural environment.

An unforeseen event causing great loss, upset or unpleasantness of whatever kind.

A skateboard trick involving a 180-degree ollie, landing on the center of the board with the front trucks facing towards the ramp and the back trucks over the lip. The skater then leans forwards to return in the ramp.

Roots

disdis- · Latin · apart, not astron-aster · Greek · star

Synonyms for disaster

catastrophen calamityn tragedyn cataclysmn debaclen mischancen mishapn misfortunen misadventuren tsunamin accidentn

Synonyms & related words for disaster

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of disaster — including catastrophe, calamity, tragedy, cataclysm, debacle, mischance. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to disaster

Explore words related to disaster — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include catastrophic, catastrophist, disastrous, calamitous, devastation, cataclysmic, diaster, funest. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Synonyms for disaster

Common synonyms for disaster include catastrophe, calamity, tragedy, cataclysm, debacle, mischance, mishap, misfortune — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.

Where does disaster come from?

The word disaster breaks down into 2 roots of Latin and Greek origin: dis-, from Latin dis (“apart, not”); and -aster, from Greek astron (“star”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.