noun
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a disaster or misfortune, esp one causing extreme havoc, distress, or misery
-
a state or feeling of deep distress or misery
Synonym Usage
See disaster.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
Vocabulary lists containing calamity
List 8
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The Crossover
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100 SAT words Beginning with "C"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
They plan for calamity and how they’d bounce back.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 12, 2026
White House reporters, meanwhile, are preparing for the day — perhaps a day when they serve as pool reporter — when they get the call about a calamity befalling the president.
From Salon ● Jun. 26, 2026
A more immediate calamity could be fertilizer shortages as India, where two-thirds of the population is still rural, heads into its June-July planting season timed to the summer monsoon, Pramanik says.
From Barron's ● May 21, 2026
We can’t help but crave the colorful calamity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 2026
He could not have fallen victim to any other sort of calamity.
From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers
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
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
Spurs' first aim will be to avoid any calamities like their red card against Crystal Palace in their previous home league game.
From BBC ● Mar. 19, 2026
The innocent yellow train that was to bring so many ambiguities and certainties, so many pleasant and unpleasant moments, so many changes, calamities, and feelings of nostalgia to Macondo.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
