Other forms: catastrophes
A catastrophe is a sudden disaster on a large scale — the kind that leaves a place changed. An earthquake that flattens a town; a fire that takes a whole hillside and everything living on it.
The pronunciation trips people more than the meaning does: ca-TAS-tro-phee, four syllables, with the final e sounded. Everyday speech borrows the word for exaggeration, so a ruined dinner or a bad haircut becomes a catastrophe and everybody hears the joke. The adjective catastrophic does serious work in the news: catastrophic failure, catastrophic flooding, catastrophic loss. In the theatre, the catastrophe is the final turn of a tragedy, the point where it all comes down. Keep it for events rather than people — a person is a disaster, never a catastrophe.
1nouncatastropheA sudden event that causes great damage or suffering.
“The flood was the worst catastrophe the valley had seen.”
synonyms: disaster, calamity
2nouncompleteA complete failure.
“The launch was a catastrophe from the first minute.”
3noundramaIn drama, the final turn of a tragedy.
“The catastrophe arrives in the last scene, as it must.”
catastrophe is a disaster.
Greek καταστροφή was built on καταστρέφω, to overturn: κατά, down or against, plus στρέφω, to turn. A catastrophe is literally a turning-over — the moment everything that was standing upright goes down.
Ancient Greek
καταστροφή
English, today
catastrophe
Built from
From Ancient Greek καταστροφή, from καταστρέφω (“to overturn”), from κατά (“down, against”) + στρέφω (“to turn”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA