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

The end result has been calamitous for the company’s bottom line. —Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 4 Nov. 2024

A week before Biden’s calamitous June debate that put in motion the drumbeat that marched him aside, Trump was polling 10 points ahead. —Philip Elliott, TIME, 8 Aug. 2024

Because House of the Dragon is working from a source text, which is itself a deliberately sketchy precursor to a different foundational story, all the eventual outcomes have been decided and every calamitous step on that road is already laid out. —Kathryn Vanarendonk, Vulture, 5 Aug. 2024

Multiple climatic tipping points could also be triggered, pushing Earth systems from relatively stable states into dramatically different ones, with potentially calamitous consequences. —Tom Yulsman, Discover Magazine, 24 Oct. 2024

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