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Which of these is often referred to as a calamity in news reports?

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calamity

American  

[kuh-lam-i-tee] / kəˈlæm ɪ ti /

noun

• calamities
  plural

1. a great misfortune or disaster, as a flood or serious injury.

   Synonyms:

   mishap, mischance, cataclysm, catastrophe, blow, reverse

2. grievous affliction; adversity; misery.

   the calamity of war.

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calamity British  

/ kəˈlæmɪtɪ /

noun

1. a disaster or misfortune, esp one causing extreme havoc, distress, or misery

2. a state or feeling of deep distress or misery

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Synonym Usage

See disaster.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• calamities
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of calamity

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English calamite, from Middle French, from Latin calamitāt-, stem of calamitās (also kadamitas ) “crop failure, disaster,” of disputed origin; often considered to be derived from calam(us) “cane, reed” + -itās -ity ( def. ), but perhaps instead akin to columus “safe,” incolumitās “safety”

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Explanation

Use the word calamity to describe an event that causes great harm and misery, or a general state of distress or misery: the calamity of war. Near synonyms are catastrophe and disaster. The noun calamity is from Middle English calamytey, from Latin calamitas, a word which might be related to Latin clades "destruction." Calamity Jane was the nickname of a 19th-century woman living on the U.S. frontier. She claimed to have some very exciting adventures.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

calamity calamities

As Anthropic prepares to go public, Wall Street is grappling with the unprecedented question of how to price the risks associated with artificial-intelligence calamity.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026

In other words, a calamity for a young man with high self-esteem and considerable spy smarts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026

George Joseph came of age during the Great Depression, a calamity that left with him with a stated desire to always have plenty of work to do.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026

Shareholders are claiming the pop star failed to fulfil promises that she would be "actively building" the brand, saying her "abject dereliction of her duties" has left the company in a "state of financial calamity".

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

His ears leaned sidelong off his head like holstered pistols, and above them waved a calamity of black hair that mortified him.

From "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand

The inability to deal with a free-kick, the failure to pick up the goalscorer in the first instance and then multiple calamities in the concession of the second goal.

From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026

To avert future calamities, the forest outside Bordeaux must be thinned and its fire breaks widened, said Arthur Guérin-Turcq, a Sorbonne University geographer whose family cultivates pines near Le Porge.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2026

But distant suburbs have not been immune to such calamities.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026

Discounting wars, many of which also fail to unite citizenry, vast social and economic calamities don’t admit of any solution on which majorities of Americans agree.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026

Occasionally, bands wandered outside their turf and explored new lands, whether due to natural calamities, violent conflicts, demographic pressures or the initiative of a charismatic leader.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari

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Related Words

• adversity
• cataclysm
• catastrophe
• collapse
• hardship
• misfortune
• mishap
• scourge
• woe

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