disaster

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word disaster. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word disaster, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say disaster in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word disaster you have here. The definition of the word disaster will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofdisaster, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
See also: Disaster

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle French desastre, from Italian disastro, from dis- + astro (“star”), from Latin astrum (“star”), from Ancient Greek ἄστρον (ástron, “star”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr.

Pronunciation

Noun

disaster (countable and uncountable, plural disasters)

  1. 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.
    People would suffer disasters when society's morality degenerates.
    • 2013 June 29, “High and wet”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 28:
      Floods in northern India, mostly in the small state of Uttarakhand, have wrought disaster on an enormous scale. The early, intense onset of the monsoon on June 14th swelled rivers, washing away roads, bridges, hotels and even whole villages. Rock-filled torrents smashed vehicles and homes, burying victims under rubble and sludge.
  2. An unforeseen event causing great loss, upset or unpleasantness of whatever kind.
    • 1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax:
      And no use for anyone to tell Charles that this was because the Family was in mourning for Mr Granville Darracott […]: Charles might only have been second footman at Darracott Place for a couple of months when that disaster occurred, but no one could gammon him into thinking that my lord cared a spangle for his heir.
    • 2003, The Devil Wears Prada:
      A nod means good, two nods; very good. And then there's the pursing of the lips: disaster.
  3. 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.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Anagrams

Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia