disaster

English

Alternative forms

• disastre (archaic)

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

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• (US) IPA: /dɪˈzæs.tɚ/
• (RP) IPA: /dɪˈzɑːs.tə(ɹ)/
• (Northern England) IPA: /dɪˈzæs.tə/
• Rhymes: -ɑːstə(ɹ), -æstə(ɹ)

Noun

disaster (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.
2. An unforeseen event causing great loss, upset or unpleasantness of whatever kind.
   • A nod means good, two nods; very good. And then there's the pursing of the lips: disaster.

     The Devil Wears Prada

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:disaster

Translations

unexpected catastrophe causing physical damage, etc.

• Bulgarian: злополука (bg) f (zlopoluka), катастрофа (bg) f (katastrofa)
• Catalan: desastre (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 災難 (cmn), 灾难 (cmn) (zāinàn)

• Czech: pohroma (cs) f
• Danish: katastrofe (da) c
• Dutch: ramp (nl) c
• Esperanto: malfeliĉego (eo)
• Finnish: onnettomuus (fi), katastrofi (fi)
• French: désastre (fr) m, catastrophe (fr) f
• German: Desaster (de) n
• Greek: καταστροφή (el) f (katastrofí)
• Haitian Creole: dezas, katastwòf
• Hebrew: אסון (he) (ason) m
• Hindi: महाविनाश (hi) (mahaavinaash) m
• Hungarian: katasztrófa (hu)

• Italian: disastro (it) m
• Japanese: 災害 (ja) (さいがい, saigai), 天災 (ja) (てんさい, tensai), 惨事 (ja) (さんじ, sanji), 災い (ja) (わざわい, wazawai)
• Latgalian: vuorgi
• Latvian: posts (lv)
• Norwegian: katastrofe (no) m
• Portuguese: desastre (pt) m
• Romanian: nenorocire (ro), dezastru (ro) n, catastrofă (ro) f
• Russian: бедствие (ru) (bédstvije) n , катастрофа (ru) (katastrófa) f 
• Sardinian:

  Campidanese Sardinian: disastru

  Gallurese Sardinian: scullóppiu

  Logudorese Sardinian: istruéndu, rughína

• Sassarese Sardinian: disasthru
• Scottish Gaelic: creach (gd) f
• Spanish: desastre (es) m
• Swahili: janga (sw), afa (sw)

unforeseen event causing great loss, etc.

• Armenian: պատուհաս (hy) (patuhas) 
• Bulgarian: бедствие (bg) n (bedstvie)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 災難 (cmn), 灾难 (cmn) (zāinàn)

• Danish: katastrofe (da) c
• Dutch: ramp (nl) c
• Finnish: onnettomuus (fi), katastrofi (fi)
• French: désastre (fr) m
• German: Desaster (de) n
• Hebrew: אסון (he) (ason) m
• Hungarian: katasztrófa (hu)
• Italian: disastro (it) m
• Japanese: 災難 (ja) (さいなん, sainan)

• Kurdish:

  Sorani: لێقه‌ومان

• Norwegian: katastrofe (no) m
• Portuguese: desastre (pt) m
• Romanian: dezastru (ro) n
• Russian: бедствие (ru) (bédstvije) n , катастрофа (ru) (katastrófa) f 
• Sardinian:

  Campidanese Sardinian: disastru

  Gallurese Sardinian: scullóppiu

  Logudorese Sardinian: istruéndu, rughína

• Sassarese Sardinian: disasthru
• Scottish Gaelic: creach (gd) f
• Swahili: janga (sw), afa (sw)

Anagrams

• asterids, diasters, disastre, disrates, Tardises