- pronunciation:
- dih
zae
st
r
- features:
- Word History, Word Explorer, Word Parts
| part of speech: |
noun |
| definition 1: |
A disaster is something that happens suddenly and causes terrible damage.
The earthquake was a disaster for the town.- synonyms:
- catastrophe, tragedy
- similar words:
- accident, blow, misfortune
|
| definition 2: |
When we completely fail at doing something, we sometimes call it a disaster.
The first time I tried to make cookies, it was a disaster. I put in way too much salt, and we couldn't eat them.- similar words:
- bomb, failure
|
Disaster comes from
disastro, an Italian word that means "without the stars." In former times, it was thought that the stars influenced human events. Terrible events were believed to have been caused by an unlucky position of the stars.