calamity
calamities
Use the word calamity to describe an event that causes great harm and misery, or a general state of distress or misery: the calamity of war.
Near synonyms are catastrophe and disaster. The noun calamity is from Middle English calamytey, from Latin calamitas, a word which might be related to Latin clades "destruction." Calamity Jane was the nickname of a 19th-century woman living on the U.S. frontier. She claimed to have some very exciting adventures.
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an event resulting in great loss and misfortune“the whole city was affected by the irremediable calamity”
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synonyms:
cataclysm, catastrophe, disaster, tragedy
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types:
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act of God, force majeure, inevitable accident, unavoidable casualty, vis major
a natural and unavoidable catastrophe that interrupts the expected course of events
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apocalypse
a cosmic cataclysm in which God destroys the ruling powers of evil
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famine
a severe shortage of food (as through crop failure) resulting in violent hunger and starvation and death
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kiss of death
something that is ruinous
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meltdown
a disaster comparable to a nuclear meltdown
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plague
any large-scale calamity (especially when thought to be sent by God)
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visitation
any disaster or catastrophe
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tidal wave
an unusual (and often destructive) rise of water along the seashore caused by a storm or a combination of wind and high tide
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tsunami
a cataclysm resulting from a destructive sea wave caused by an earthquake or volcanic eruption
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the Great Calamity, the Great Hunger, the Great Starvation, the Irish Famine
a famine in Ireland resulting from a potato blight; between 1846 and 1851 a million people starved to death and 1.6 million emigrated (most to America)
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type of:
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bad luck, misfortune
unnecessary and unforeseen trouble resulting from an unfortunate event
Vocabulary lists containing calamity
Although ten-year-old Comfort Snowberger grew up in a family that runs a funeral parlor, she must learn to confront the feelings of loss after death suddenly hits close to home.
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