calamity

noun

ca·​lam·​i·​ty kə-ˈla-mə-tē 

plural calamities

1

: a disastrous event marked by great loss and lasting distress and suffering

calamities of nature

an economic calamity

2

: a state of deep distress or misery caused by major misfortune or loss

Synonyms

• apocalypse
• cataclysm
• catastrophe
• debacle
• débâcle
• disaster
• tragedy

Examples of calamity in a Sentence

Twenty two years passed. Twenty-two years of excellent health and the boundless self-assurance that flows from being fit—twenty-two years spared the adversary that is illness and the calamity that waits in the wings. —Phillip Roth, Everyman, 2006

A resentment born of the suspicion that all along the media were up to their usual tricks, hyping a national calamity to the max in order to make us buy more copies and tune into TV specials … —Christopher Buckley, Time, 29 Nov. 1999

In the wake of this year's unending calamities, there has been renewed discussion of the need for an international rapid deployment force that can kick down doors to help victims of disasters. —Kathleen Hunt, New York Times Magazine, 28 July 1991

floods, earthquakes, and other calamities

He predicted calamity for the economy.

Recent Examples on the Web

The two experts spoke to The Times in 2017 when wildfires ravaged Northern California and again this week amid the unfolding calamity. —Thomas Curwen, Los Angeles Times, 11 Jan. 2025

The seemingly increasing number of both natural and manmade calamities happening around the world means that companies in a position to provide support and relief, like ours and others across different industries, will likely be called upon to do so more often. —David Wajsgras, Forbes, 10 Jan. 2025

Separate insurance policies are required to protect against those types of calamities. —Erik Ortiz, NBC News, 9 Jan. 2025

While reckoning with the calamity, some homeowners are likely taking the first step in a disaster recovery process that has become increasingly common as climate change has heightened the frequency and severity of extreme weather events: filing an insurance claim. —Max Zahn, ABC News, 9 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English calamytey, borrowed from Middle French & Latin; Middle French calamité, borrowed from Latin calamitāt-, calamitās "disaster, misfortune, military defeat," going back to an unattested adjective *calamo- or *calami-, presumably, "injured, affected by misfortune or defeat" + -tāt-, -tās -TY; *calamo-/*calami- perhaps going back to Indo-European *kl̥h₂-em-o/i-, adjective derivative from a verbal base *kelh₂- "hit, strike" — more at clastic

Note: Later Roman writers associated calamitās by folk etymology with calamus "reed, cane," taking it to literally mean "plague affecting crops." A negated form of the Latin adjective underlying calamitās can be seen in the word incolumis "unharmed, safe and sound, undamaged," going back to *enkalamis. (The second -a- was presumably weakened to -i- and then backed and rounded to -u- before a labial consonant, with the first -a-, now in the second syllable, reducing and rounding to -o- before velar l.) Initial -aCa- in calamitās, rather than -aCi- by vowel weakening, is most likely the result of the so-called alacer rule, by which a short vowel in an open medial syllable retains its quality if it is identical to the vowel of the initial syllable (the word alacer "brisk, lively" exemplifying the rule—compare allegro entry 2).

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Kids Definition

calamity

noun

ca·​lam·​i·​ty kə-ˈlam-ət-ē 

plural calamities

1

: deep distress or misery

2

: an event that causes great harm