catastrophe

B2 Topic:Safety & Risk

US /kəˈtæstrəfi/ UK /kəˈtæstɹəfi/ See IPA manual

Freq #9078

Meanings

1

noun
A sudden event that causes great damage, suffering, or loss.

The flood was a catastrophe for the whole region.
2

noun
A complete failure or very bad situation.

Losing the contract would be a catastrophe for the company.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a sudden event that causes... disaster

2 noun · a complete failure or very... disaster cataclysm

Word family

Forms catastrophes

Derived forms castrophonycatastrophalcatastrophincatastrophizeclimatastrophecowtastrophedisastropheecocatastropheeucatastrophesupercatastrophe

Related forms anastropheapostrophe cataclysm catastrophiccatastrophismcatastrophistmetastrophe

Etymology

From Ancient Greek καταστροφή (katastrophḗ), from καταστρέφω (katastréphō, “to overturn”), from κατά (katá, “down, against”) + στρέφω (stréphō, “to turn”).

καταστροφή Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

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# catastrophe

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /kəˈtæstrəfi/
**IPA (UK):** /kəˈtæstɹəfi/
**Frequency rank:** 9078

## Meanings
1. A sudden event that causes great damage, suffering, or loss.
2. A complete failure or very bad situation.

## Examples
- The flood was a catastrophe for the whole region.
- Losing the contract would be a catastrophe for the company.

## Derived Forms
- castrophony
- catastrophal
- catastrophin
- catastrophize
- climatastrophe
- cowtastrophe
- disastrophe
- ecocatastrophe
- eucatastrophe
- supercatastrophe

## Related Forms
- anastrophe
- apostrophe
- cataclysm
- catastrophic
- catastrophism
- catastrophist
- metastrophe

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: καταστροφή

## Etymology
From Ancient Greek καταστροφή (katastrophḗ), from καταστρέφω (katastréphō, “to overturn”), from κατά (katá, “down, against”) + στρέφω (stréphō, “to turn”).

## AI Etymology
catastrophe is a noun. It is from Ancient Greek καταστροφή (katastrophḗ), from καταστρέφω (katastréphō, “to overturn”), from κατά (katá, “down, against”) + στρέφω (stréphō, “to turn”). Historical forms in the chain include καταστροφή (Ancient Greek). Current senses include a sudden event that causes great damage, suffering, or loss and a complete failure or very bad situation. Derived forms include castrophony, catastrophal, catastrophin, catastrophize, and climatastrophe. Related words include anastrophe, apostrophe, cataclysm, and catastrophic.

## Topics
- Safety & Risk

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catastrophe

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