noun
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a disaster or misfortune, esp one causing extreme havoc, distress, or misery
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a state or feeling of deep distress or misery
Related Words
See disaster.
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”
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.
A second friendly defeat in four days was no calamity since it came on the back of an admirable performance, unworthy of booing.
From BBC • Mar. 31, 2026
Then, just after the calamity of World War II, in a remote corner of eastern France, he moved Modernism’s goal posts with a single, eccentric, transcendent project.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 6, 2026
As Mr. Coyle relates, one key to the miners’ survival and sanity seems to have been that, when the calamity engulfed them, no one took charge.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 4, 2026
"For me, this is the first time I have experienced a calamity of this magnitude. Elders say a similar disaster took place in the 1990s," 24-year-old mechanic Tomaz Antonio Mlau says.
From BBC • Jan. 25, 2026
The product of demographic calamity, the newly created wilderness was indeed beautiful.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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.
