Trivia Time

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

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”

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

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

Young Pavi and her twin sister, Nisha, live in a world that no longer sees the Avatar as humanity’s savior after it was devastated by a calamity.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026

Some survivors of the deadly floods on the Nepal-China border ran for their lives, others narrowly missed disaster, but all were eyewitnesses to a major calamity and its aftermath.

From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 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

Etienne sees it as a calamity, but Madame Ruelle radiates glee.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

Mr. Rushdie has unusual calamities to look back on, but he does so with astonishing poise and a resolutely dispassionate attitude.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 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

Scotland don't just concede goals, they create calamities - the sort of slapstick defending that a player such as Vini Jr is waiting to take advantage of.

From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026

Databases such as Court Listener have a growing list of rulings on AI-generated calamities in the US courts.

From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026

And whatever extraneous influence the tannery may have exercised, the calamities of the land belong to it alone, born of wind and rain and weather, immensities not to be tempered by man or his creations.

From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya

Related Words

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