Adjacent Words

Calamity definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CALAMITY, n. Any great misfortune, or cause of misery; generally applied to events or disasters which produce extensive evils, as loss of crops, earthquakes, conflagrations, defeat of armies, and the like. But it is applied also to the misfortunes which bring great distress upon individuals.
The deliberations of calamity are rarely wise.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: an event resulting in great loss and misfortune; "the whole city was affected by the irremediable calamity"; "the earthquake was a disaster" [syn: calamity, catastrophe, disaster, tragedy, cataclysm]

Merriam Webster's

noun (plural -ties) Etymology: Middle English calamytey, from Latin calamitat-, calamitas; perhaps akin to Latin clades destruction Date: 15th century 1. a state of deep distress or misery caused by major misfortune or loss 2. a disastrous event marked by great loss and lasting distress and suffering <calamities of nature> <an economic calamity>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. -ies) 1 a disaster, a great misfortune. 2 a adversity. b deep distress. Phrases and idioms: Calamity Jane a prophet of disaster. Derivatives: calamitous adj. calamitously adv. Etymology: ME f. F calamité f. L calamitas -tatis

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Calamity Ca*lam"i*tyn.; pl. Calamities. [L. calamitas, akin to in-columis unharmed: cf. F. calamit['e]] 1. Any great misfortune or cause of misery; -- generally applied to events or disasters which produce extensive evil, either to communities or individuals. Note: The word calamity was first derived from calamus when the corn could not get out of the stalk. --Bacon. Strokes of calamity that scathe and scorch the soul. --W. Irving. 2. A state or time of distress or misfortune; misery. The deliberations of calamity are rarely wise. --Burke. Where'er I came I brought calamity. --Tennyson. Syn: Disaster; distress; affliction; adversity; misfortune; unhappiness; infelicity; mishap; mischance; misery; evil; extremity; exigency; downfall. Usage: Calamity, Disaster, Misfortune, Mishap, Mischance. Of these words, calamity is the strongest. It supposes a somewhat continuous state, produced not usually by the direct agency of man, but by natural causes, such as fire, flood, tempest, disease, etc, Disaster denotes literally ill-starred, and is some unforeseen and distressing event which comes suddenly upon us, as if from hostile planet. Misfortune is often due to no specific cause; it is simply the bad fortune of an individual; a link in the chain of events; an evil independent of his own conduct, and not to be charged as a fault. Mischance and mishap are misfortunes of a trivial nature, occurring usually to individuals. ``A calamity is either public or private, but more frequently the former; a disaster is rather particular than private; it affects things rather than persons; journey, expedition, and military movements are often attended with disasters; misfortunes are usually personal; they immediately affect the interests of the individual.'' --Crabb.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(calamities) A calamity is an event that causes a great deal of damage, destruction, or personal distress. (FORMAL) He described drugs as the greatest calamity of the age... It could only end in calamity. = disaster N-VAR

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ka-lam'-i-ti ('edh, "a load" or "burden" under which one is crushed, hence, "misfortune"; hayyah, hawwah, "fall," "ruin," the latter word used only in the plural; ra`, "evil in essence" hence, "adversity," once only, Ps 141:5, the Revised Version (British and American) "wickedness"): Purely an Old Testament term, signifying adversities--natural, but more often those that result from wickedness or moral evil. Various kinds:

(1) folly, "a foolish son" (Pr 19:13);

(2) disease, poverty, bereavement, as in Job's experience (Job 6:2; 30:13);

(3) persecution (2Sa 22:19; Ps 18:18);

(4) Divine retribution and judgment (De 32:35); compare ruin of the wicked (Pr 1:26, also Pr 1:27 the Revised Version (British and American) for "destruction" the King James Version);

(5) the devastation of war (Jer 46:21);

(6) adversities of any kind (Pr 27:10).

Dwight M. Pratt

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Disaster, misfortune, catastrophe, mishap, mischance, reverse, visitation, trial, blow, stroke, trouble, affliction, adversity, distress, misery, evil, ill, hardship, casualty, ill-luck, ill fortune.

Moby Thesaurus

accident, adversity, affliction, bane, blow, bugbear, burden, casualty, cataclysm, catastrophe, collapse, collision, contretemps, crack-up, crash, cross, crushing burden, curse, death, desolation, destruction, devastation, disaster, disease, distress, evil, fatal accident, fatality, grief, grievance, hardship, harm, ill hap, infliction, misadventure, mischance, misery, misfortune, mishap, nasty blow, nemesis, open wound, pest, pestilence, pileup, plague, reverse, ruin, ruination, running sore, scourge, shipwreck, shock, smash, smashup, staggering blow, thorn, torment, tragedy, trial, tribulation, trouble, vexation, violent death, visitation, woe, wreck, wretchedness