catastrophe
noun
Simple meaning
An event resulting in great loss and misfortune.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kuhtastruhfeeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
kəˈtæstɹəfi
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
An event resulting in great loss and misfortune
Any large and disastrous event of great significance.
insurance
A disaster beyond expectations.
narratology
The dramatic event that initiates the resolution of the plot; the dénouement.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: An event resulting in great loss and misfortune
Used this way, catastrophe is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It carries more force than its gentler alternatives. It turns up most in personal or emotional discussion and literature or storytelling contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Strong
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Everyday but emotionally strong
Where it naturally appears
- Personal/emotional discussion
- Literature/storytelling
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use catastrophe
- “Lack of funds has resulted in a catastrophe for our school system.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
- firenoun
- insurancenoun
- earthquakenoun
- increaseverb
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.