calamity

UK: /kəˈlæmɪti/ US: /kəˈlæmɪti/ ,(kə lam′i tē)

Inflections of 'calamity' (n): npl: calamities

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

ca•lam•i•ty /kəˈlæmɪti/   n. [countable] , pl. -ties. 

1. a great misfortune or disaster:
   suffered from one calamity after another: disease, war, famine, and drought.

ca•lam•i•tous, adj. 

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

ca•lam•i•ty  (kə lam′i tē), n., pl. -ties. 

1. a great misfortune or disaster, as a flood or serious injury.
2. grievous affliction;
   adversity;
   misery:
   the calamity of war.

• Latin calamitāt- (stem of calamitās), perh. akin to incolumitās safety
• Middle French
• late Middle English calamite 1375–1425

Synonyms

• 1. reverse, blow, catastrophe, cataclysm; mischance, mishap. See disaster. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

calamity / kəˈlæmɪtɪ/ noun ( -ties)

1. a disaster or misfortune, esp one causing extreme havoc, distress, or misery
2. a state or feeling of deep distress or misery

Etymology: 15th Century: from French calamité, from Latin calamitās; related to Latin incolumis uninjured