EGAVE

catastrophe

About 3.78 uses per million words.

Meaning

  1. noun Any large and disastrous event of great significance.
    The Chernobyl disaster was a catastrophe.
  2. noun A disaster beyond expectations.
  3. noun The dramatic event that initiates the resolution of the plot; the dénouement.
  4. noun A type of bifurcation, where a system shifts between two stable states.

Similar words

disaster cataclysm calamity tragedy devastation havoc destruction setback damage ruin

Often followed by

of in which that and is was theory to

Word family

catastrophes catastrophic catastrophically

Save “catastrophe” to learn later