Definition of Catastrophe

1. Noun. An event resulting in great loss and misfortune. "The earthquake was a disaster"


2. Noun. A state of extreme (usually irremediable) ruin and misfortune. "His policies were a disaster"
Exact synonyms: Disaster
Generic synonyms: Adversity, Hard Knocks, Hardship

3. Noun. A sudden violent change in the earth's surface.
Exact synonyms: Cataclysm
Generic synonyms: Geological Phenomenon
Specialized synonyms: Nuclear Winter

Definition of Catastrophe

1. n. An event producing a subversion of the order or system of things; a final event, usually of a calamitous or disastrous nature; hence, sudden calamity; great misfortune.

Definition of Catastrophe

1. Noun. Any large and disastrous event of great significance. ¹

2. Noun. (context: insurance) A disaster beyond expectations ¹

3. Noun. (narratology) The dramatic event that initiates the resolution of the plot in a tragedy. ¹

4. Noun. (mathematics) A type of bifurcation, where a system shifts between two stable states. ¹

5. Noun. (rare) (alternative spelling of (catastrophe)) ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Catastrophe

1. [n -S]

Lexicographical Neighbors of Catastrophe

catarrhinian
catarrhous
catarrhs
catarrhy
catasta
catastalsis
catastaltic
catastas
catastases
catastasis
catastate
catastates
catasterism
catasterisms
catastrophal
catastrophe (current term)
catastrophe theory
catastrophes
catastrophic
catastrophic illness
catastrophic kill
catastrophic reaction
catastrophically
catastrophism
catastrophisms
catastrophist
catastrophists
catastrophization
catastrophizations
catastrophize

Literary usage of Catastrophe

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Proceedings by Royal Geographical Society (Great Britain), Norton Shaw, Francis Galton, William Spottiswoode, Clements Robert Markham, Henry Walter Bates, John Scott Keltie (1892)
"Tlie Glacial catastrophe in Savoy. MOUNTAIN regions aro subject to many sorts of sudden disasters, but the terrible catastrophe in the Haute Savoie, ..."

2. The Cambridge Modern History by John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton Acton, Ernest Alfred Benians, Sir Adolphus William Ward, George Walter Prothero (1905)
"catastrophe, almost inevitable, therefore loomed ahead when on July 29, 1588, ... with regard to the effects of the catastrophe upon Spaniards generally. ..."

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