Synonyms for disaster
dɪˈzæs tər, -ˈzɑ stərdis·as·ter

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:2.0 / 2 votes

1. disaster

   An accident is that which happens without any one's direct intention; a chance that which happens without any known cause. If the direct cause of a railroad accident is known, we can not call it a chance. To the theist there is, in strictness, no chance, all things being by divine causation and control; but chance is spoken of where no special cause is manifest: "By chance there came down a certain priest that way," Luke x, 31. We can speak of a game of chance, but not of a game of accident. An incident is viewed as occurring in the regular course of things, but subordinate to the main purpose, or aside from the main design. Fortune is the result of inscrutable controlling forces. Fortune and chance are nearly equivalent, but chance can be used of human effort and endeavor as fortune can not be; we say "he has a chance of success," or "there is one chance in a thousand," where we could not substitute fortune; as personified, Fortune is regarded as having a fitful purpose, Chance as purposeless; we speak of fickle Fortune, blind Chance; "Fortune favors the brave." The slaughter of men is an incident of battle; unexpected defeat, the fortune of war. Since the unintended is often the undesirable, accident tends to signify some calamity or disaster, unless the contrary is expressed, as when we say a fortunate or happy accident. An adventure is that which may turn out ill, a misadventure that which does turn out ill. A slight disturbing accident is a mishap. Compare EVENT; HAZARD.

   Synonyms:
   accident, adventure, calamity, casualty, chance, contingency, fortuity, hap, happening, hazard, incident, misadventure, misfortune, mishap, possibility

   Antonyms:
   appointment, calculation, certainty, decree, fate, foreordination, intention, law, necessity, ordainment, ordinance, plan, preparation, provision, purpose

   Preposition:
   The accident of birth; an accident to the machinery.

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. catastrophe, disasternoun

   a state of extreme (usually irremediable) ruin and misfortune

   "lack of funds has resulted in a catastrophe for our school system"; "his policies were a disaster"

   Synonyms:
   catastrophe, tragedy, calamity, cataclysm

2. calamity, catastrophe, disaster, tragedy, cataclysmnoun

   an event resulting in great loss and misfortune

   "the whole city was affected by the irremediable calamity"; "the earthquake was a disaster"

   Synonyms:
   catastrophe, tragedy, calamity, cataclysm

3. disasternoun

   an act that has disastrous consequences

   Synonyms:
   catastrophe, tragedy, calamity, cataclysm

Matched Categories

1. • Adversity
   • Destruction

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. disasternoun

   Synonyms:
   mishap, misfortune, reverse, mischance, calamity, catastrophe, blow, stroke, casualty

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. disasternoun

   Synonyms:
   calamity, mishap, catastrophe, casualty

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:3.0 / 1 vote

1. List of paraphrases for "disaster":

   catastrophe, disasters, calamity, accident, tragedy, cataclysm, mess, debacle, scourge, destruction, misfortune, shambles, ramp, catastrophes, hazards, devastation

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How to use disaster in a sentence?

1. Gerri Willis:

   I was in treatment for nine months, and being alone is a disaster, you need people around you – you need other breast cancer people with you to give you ideas and suggestions to survive the treatment.

2. Thomas Doherty:

   I don't think the funeral will be the last great global event of the television era, but, alas, the great global TV events of the future will probably be disasters : an assassination, a terrorist attack, a deliberate or accidental nuclear event, a huge natural disaster, a pandemic, a coup in a major North American democracy — something everyone will have to watch.

3. Matthieu Aikins:

   At that point, we went back to the emergency hospital, and they were bringing the casualties in there. There was just body after body. It was a really terrible sight, you have tens of thousands of people cramming in from every angle at the same time, this desperate pressure to get the American citizens and others out. So it was really truly a recipe for disaster.

4. Arif Munandar:

   Everyone has trauma from that time but we can't be afraid all the time, what we need now is to know how to survive wherever we are because disaster will come without notice.

5. Janvier Chouteu-Chando:

   Stubbornness is the bearer of disaster…”