disaster

CEFRA2

/dɪˈzɑːs.təː/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A sudden event causing great damage, loss, or suffering.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A skateboard trick involving a 180-degree ollie, landing on the center of the board with the front trucks facing towards the ramp and the back trucks over the lip. The skater then leans forwards to return in the ramp.

Examples

  • If the hay caught fire, it would be a real disaster.

  • Slight inattention can cause a great disaster.

At a glance

Sits at A2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
4
Parts of speech
1
Citations
3
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • [dɪˈzæs.tʰɚ] ~ [dɪˈzæs.tʰɹ̩]
  • /dɪˈzas.təː/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. An unforeseen event causing great loss, upset or unpleasantness of whatever kind.

  2. An unexpected natural or man-made catastrophe of substantial extent causing significant physical damage or destruction, loss of life or sometimes permanent change to the natural environment.

More examples

In context

  • People would suffer disasters when society's morality degenerates.

  • A nod means good, two nods; very good. And then there's the pursing of the lips: disaster.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The hurricane was a terrible blank that destroyed hundreds of coastal homes.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle French desastre, from Italian disastro, from dis- + astro (“star”), from Latin astrum (“star”), from Ancient Greek ἄστρον (ástron, “star”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr.