disaster
/dɪˈzɑːs.təː/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.39 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
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.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
An unfortunate or unpleasant occurrence, especially one resulting from an accident or something going wrong.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
An wholly unsatisfactory result caused by something going wrong or being done poorly; a flop or failure.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "People would suffer disasters when society's morality degenerates."
- "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."
- "Then Jill came in, And she did grin, To see Jack's paper plaster; Her mother whipt her, Across her knee, For laughing at Jack's disaster."
- "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."
- "A nod means good, two nods; very good. And then there's the pursing of the lips: disaster."
- "the cake was a disaster."
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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- British English: /dɪˈzɑːs.təː/