Get the FREE one-click dictionary software for Windows
or the iPhone/iPad and Android apps
Noun: disaster  di'zã-stu(r)
  1. An event resulting in great loss and misfortune
    "the earthquake was a disaster";
    - calamity, catastrophe, tragedy, cataclysm
     
  2. A state of extreme (usually irremediable) ruin and misfortune
    "his policies were a disaster";
    - catastrophe
     
  3. An act that has disastrous consequences
    "The oil spill was an environmental disaster"; "The company's decision to cut corners led to a financial disaster"

Derived forms: disasters

Type of: adversity, bad luck, destruction, devastation, hard knocks [informal], hardship, misfortune

Encyclopedia: Disaster