catastrophe
noun
[ kəˈtastrəfi ]
• an event causing great and usually sudden damage or suffering; a disaster.
• "an environmental catastrophe"
Similar:
disaster,
calamity,
cataclysm,
crisis,
holocaust,
ruin,
ruination,
tragedy,
blow,
shock,
adversity,
blight,
trouble,
trial,
tribulation,
mishap,
misfortune,
mischance,
misadventure,
accident,
failure,
reverse,
woe,
affliction,
distress,
meltdown,
whammy,
car crash,
bale,
mishanter,
• the denouement of a drama, especially a classical tragedy.
Origin:
mid 16th century (in the sense ‘denouement’): from Latin catastropha, from Greek katastrophē ‘overturning, sudden turn’, from kata- ‘down’ + strophē ‘turning’ (from strephein ‘to turn’).
