catastrophal

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /kəˈtæstrəfəl/ UK /kəˈtæstrəfəl/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
of the nature of a catastrophe; catastrophic

The flood brought catastrophal ruin to the valley.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · of the nature of a... catastrophic cataclysmic disastrous calamitous ruinous devastating

Word family

Related forms catastrophe catastrophic

Etymology

From catastrophe + -al, a rare variant of catastrophic. Catastrophe is from Greek katastrophe ('an overturning'), from kata- ('down') + strephein ('to turn').

katastrophe Ancient Greek strephein Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# catastrophal

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /kəˈtæstrəfəl/
**IPA (UK):** /kəˈtæstrəfəl/

## Meanings
1. of the nature of a catastrophe; catastrophic

## Examples
- The flood brought catastrophal ruin to the valley.

## Synonyms
- catastrophic
- cataclysmic
- disastrous
- calamitous
- ruinous
- devastating

## Related Forms
- catastrophe
- catastrophic

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: katastrophe
- Root: strephein

## Etymology
From catastrophe + -al, a rare variant of catastrophic. Catastrophe is from Greek katastrophe ('an overturning'), from kata- ('down') + strephein ('to turn').

## AI Etymology
Catastrophal comes from catastrophe + -al, a rare variant of catastrophic. Catastrophe is from Greek katastrophe ('an overturning'), from kata- ('down') + strephein ('to turn'). The historical trail runs through katastrophe in Ancient Greek and strephein in Ancient Greek. Morphologically, catastrophal is transparent: it draws on catastrophe + -al, a rare variant of catastrophic. Used as an adjective, catastrophal now means "of the nature of a catastrophe; catastrophic", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in related forms such as catastrophe and catastrophic. The result is a borrowed or transmitted form whose modern spelling carries a compact record of its route into English.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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