catastrophic
🇬🇧 /ˌkætəˈstrɒfɪk/
🇺🇸 /ˌkætəˈstrɑfɪk/
📖 Definitions
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adjective
Involving or causing sudden great damage or suffering; extremely harmful and devastating.; Extremely unsuccessful or disastrous in outcome; constituting a complete failure.; Relating to or characteristic of a catastrophe; of the nature of a sudden and widespread disaster.; In medicine, describing a condition or event that is life-threatening or results in severe, often irreversible damage to the body.; In geology, describing a process or event that occurs suddenly and with great force, as opposed to gradual change.
🔗 Details
Word forms
Comparative: more catastrophic
Superlative: most catastrophic
Collocations
catastrophic failurecatastrophic eventcatastrophic consequencescatastrophic damagecatastrophic losscatastrophic decline
Derivatives
catastrophecatastrophicallycatastrophismcatastrophist
Synonyms
disastrousdevastatingcalamitousruinoustragicdire
Antonyms
beneficialfortunateauspicious
Commonly confused
cataclysmic
EN: 'Cataclysmic' emphasizes a sudden, violent upheaval (often geological or political), while 'catastrophic' is broader, referring to any extremely harmful or disastrous outcome.
tragic
EN: 'Tragic' often carries an emotional or literary connotation of sorrow and fate, while 'catastrophic' focuses more on the scale of destruction or failure.
Spelling tips
EN: Remember the 'ph' in 'catastrophic' (from Greek 'katastrophē'); do not write 'catastrofic'. Also note the stress falls on the third syllable: cat-a-STROPH-ic.
💬 Examples
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The earthquake had catastrophic effects on the coastal city, destroying thousands of homes.
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The company's catastrophic mismanagement led to its bankruptcy within two years.
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Scientists warned of a catastrophic shift in global climate patterns if emissions were not reduced.
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The patient suffered a catastrophic brain injury in the automobile accident.
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The catastrophic flooding of the river valley reshaped the landscape in a matter of hours.