calamitous

adjective

ca·​lam·​i·​tous kə-ˈla-mə-təs 

: being, causing, or accompanied by calamity

calamitous events

a calamitous earthquake

calamitously adverb

Synonyms

• cataclysmal
• cataclysmic
• catastrophic
• damning
• destructive
• disastrous
• fatal
• fateful
• ruinous
• unfortunate

Examples of calamitous in a Sentence

the calamitous state of the nation's economy

a calamitous decision to sell their products online exclusively ruined the business

Recent Examples on the Web

Two Benfica goals followed in the half, the first after a calamitous error from Barça goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny – rushing off his line, missing the ball and colliding with Balde – allowed Pavlidis to run the ball into an open net. —George Ramsay, CNN, 22 Jan. 2025

The fact the officer had his arms crossed at the time and did not allow the ball to drop potentially avoided a calamitous lie among the trees. —Bryce Miller, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Jan. 2025

Tuesday’s Town Hall, organized by Rossmoor’s Firewise committee, had been planned weeks before the calamitous Los Angeles fires. —Martha Ross, The Mercury News, 16 Jan. 2025

Failure to beat this struggling Spurs outfit would be truly calamitous and Arteta would have some serious questions to answer. —Darren Richman, The Athletic, 14 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Middle French & Latin; Middle French calamiteux "suffering misfortune, miserable," borrowed from Latin calamitōsus "liable to damage or disaster, afflicted by disaster, ill-starred, involving damage or disaster, ruinous," by haplology from *calamitātōsus, from calamitāt-, calamitās "disaster, misfortune, calamity" + -ōsus -ous

First Known Use

1545, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

calamitous

adjective

ca·​lam·​i·​tous kə-ˈlam-ət-əs 

: causing or accompanied by calamity

calamitous events

calamitously adverb

calamitousness noun