Words / B2

k-uh-TASTR-uh-fee/kəˈtæstrəfi/

A catastrophe is a sudden event causing great damage or suffering: a humanitarian catastrophe; a software catastrophe. Disaster is a close twin; crisis can be slower. Catastrophic is the adjective. Results-day software failures get called a catastrophe. Do not use it for a lost pen.

Meaning

A sudden event that causes great damage or suffering.

Examples

• “A software catastrophe on results day left thousands without grades.”
• “The flood was a catastrophe for the valley, which is the humanitarian sense.”

Good to know

a catastrophe; catastrophic + noun. Close: disaster. Slower: a crisis. Adjective: catastrophic. News hyperbole vs real harm — match the scale.

Near in meaning

disaster

New