disastrous

adjective

di·​sas·​trous di-ˈza-strəs 

 also  -ˈsa-

1

: attended by or causing suffering or disaster : calamitous

a disastrous flood

2

: terrible, horrendous

a disastrous score

disastrously adverb

Synonyms

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

Examples of disastrous in a Sentence

Half the city was destroyed by a disastrous fire.

The bad weather could have a disastrous effect on the area's tourism industry.

His failure to back up the computer files had disastrous consequences.

The strike was economically disastrous.

Recent Examples on the Web

If tax reform isn’t approached thoughtfully, the impact on those already facing significant challenges could be disastrous. —Jack Salmon, National Review, 14 Apr. 2025

Apple had seemed to resolve this with its Private Cloud Compute, but then its disastrous Apple Intelligence delays made all that somewhat academic for the time being at least. —Zak Doffman, Forbes.com, 14 Apr. 2025

But what could have been a disastrous situation from the jump has the looks of becoming a positive for Báez and the Tigers. —Cody Stavenhagen, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2025

Stroman had a disastrous second half last season, was moved to the bullpen, didn’t pitch in the postseason and spent the winter subjected to trade rumors. —Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 13 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1594, in the meaning defined at sense 1