rhizoverbBeta
DictionarycalamityDisastrous event
noun

calamity

kuh-LAM-uh-tee/kəˈlæməti/

An event causing great harm or suffering.

The flood is a calamity for residents whose homes are submerged.

Two displaced residents stand on dry higher ground overlooking a devastating neighborhood flood: water reaches house windows, a car is partly submerged, and broken household debris floats past.
Etymology
calamityLatindamage, loss, disaster

Calamitas covered damage, loss, and adversity. English calamity moved from describing a state of hardship to naming a disastrous event that causes it; the Latin word's deeper origin remains obscure.

In context

Orange City Literature Festival17:14
15 000 inhabitants of calcutta are since the late fires in extreme distress the infants wailing in their mother's bosoms increased the calamity beyond the power of language to describe
Andrew Otis talking about "On Hicky's Bengal Gazette: the Untold Story of India's First Newspaper"

More examples

  • Several calamities struck the region.
  • The harvest failure became a calamity.
  • They worked to avert another calamity.

Forms

calamity · calamities

Similar words

disaster
The usual broad equivalent.
catastrophe
Often suggests especially widespread destruction.