calamitous

C2 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /kəˈlæmətəs/ UK /kəˈlæmɪtəs/ See IPA manual

Freq #58371

Meanings

1

adj
Causing or involving great harm or disaster.

The decision had calamitous consequences for the whole company.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · causing or involving great... catastrophic disastrous devastating destructive

Word family

Derived forms calamitouslycalamitousnessuncalamitousuncalamitously

Related forms calamity

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

calamitous defeat
a loss that causes disastrous consequences

Adjective + noun

Etymology

Borrowed from French calamiteux (“calamitous”) (see French -eux, English -ous), from Latin calamitōsus (“destructive, disastrous, ruinous, calamitous”), a contraction of calamitātōsus, from calamitāt- + -ōsus (suffix meaning ‘full of; prone to’ forming adjectives from nouns); calamitāt- is the oblique stem of calamitās (“disaster, misfortune, calamity; damage, harm; loss”), from *calamis (“damaged”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kelh₂- (“to beat; to break”)) + -tās (suffix forming abstract nouns denoting a condition or state). By surface analysis, calamity + -ous.

*kelh₂- Proto-Indo-European calamiteux French calamitōsus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# calamitous

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /kəˈlæmətəs/
**IPA (UK):** /kəˈlæmɪtəs/
**Frequency rank:** 58371

## Meanings
1. Causing or involving great harm or disaster.

## Examples
- The decision had calamitous consequences for the whole company.

## Derived Forms
- calamitously
- calamitousness
- uncalamitous
- uncalamitously

## Related Forms
- calamity

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *kelh₂-
- Root: calamiteux
- Root: calamitōsus

## Etymology
Borrowed from French calamiteux (“calamitous”) (see French -eux, English -ous), from Latin calamitōsus (“destructive, disastrous, ruinous, calamitous”), a contraction of calamitātōsus, from calamitāt- + -ōsus (suffix meaning ‘full of; prone to’ forming adjectives from nouns); calamitāt- is the oblique stem of calamitās (“disaster, misfortune, calamity; damage, harm; loss”), from *calamis (“damaged”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kelh₂- (“to beat; to break”)) + -tās (suffix forming abstract nouns denoting a condition or state). By surface analysis, calamity + -ous.

## AI Etymology
Calamitous is borrowed from French calamiteux (“calamitous”) (see French -eux, English -ous), from Latin calamitōsus (“destructive, disastrous, ruinous, calamitous”), a contraction of calamitātōsus, from calamitāt- + -ōsus (suffix meaning ‘full of; prone to’ forming adjectives from nouns); calamitāt- is the oblique stem of calamitās (“disaster, misfortune, calamity; damage, harm; loss”), from *calamis (“damaged”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kelh₂- (“to beat; to break”)) + -tās (suffix forming abstract nouns denoting a condition or state). By surface analysis, calamity + -ous. The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern adjectival form is built from the named base and affix. Important recorded forms include *kelh₂- (Proto-Indo-European), calamiteux (French), and calamitōsus (Latin). Current senses include causing or involving great harm or disaster. The wider family includes derived forms such as calamitously, calamitousness, uncalamitous, and uncalamitously; related words such as calamity.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

markdown