Definitions for catastrophe
kəˈtæs trə ficatas·tro·phe

Princeton's WordNet(3.00 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. calamity, catastrophe, disaster, tragedy, cataclysm(noun)

   an event resulting in great loss and misfortune

   "the whole city was affected by the irremediable calamity"; "the earthquake was a disaster"

2. catastrophe, disaster(noun)

   a state of extreme (usually irremediable) ruin and misfortune

   "lack of funds has resulted in a catastrophe for our school system"; "his policies were a disaster"

3. catastrophe, cataclysm(noun)

   a sudden violent change in the earth's surface

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. catastrophe(Noun)

   Any large and disastrous event of great significance.

2. catastrophe(Noun)

   A disaster beyond expectations

3. catastrophe(Noun)

   The dramatic event that initiates the resolution of the plot in a tragedy.

4. catastrophe(Noun)

   A type of bifurcation, where a system shifts between two stable states.

Origin: From καταστροφή, from καταστρέφω, from κατά + στρέφω

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Catastrophe(noun)

   an event producing a subversion of the order or system of things; a final event, usually of a calamitous or disastrous nature; hence, sudden calamity; great misfortune

2. Catastrophe(noun)

   the final event in a romance or a dramatic piece; a denouement, as a death in a tragedy, or a marriage in a comedy

3. Catastrophe(noun)

   a violent and widely extended change in the surface of the earth, as, an elevation or subsidence of some part of it, effected by internal causes

Origin: [L. catastropha, Gr. , fr. to turn up and down, to overturn; kata` down + to turn.]

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Catastrophe

   Catastrophe is a short play by Samuel Beckett, written in French in 1982 at the invitation of A.I.D.A. and “[f]irst produced in the Avignon Festival … Beckett considered it ‘massacred.’” It is one of his few plays to deal with a political theme and, arguably, holds the title of Beckett's most optimistic work. It was dedicated to then imprisoned Czech reformer and playwright, Václav Havel.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Catastrophe

   kat-as′trō-fē, n. an overturning: a final event: an unfortunate conclusion: a calamity.—adj. Catastroph′ic—ns. Catas′trophism, the theory in geology that accounts for 'breaks in the succession' by the hypothesis of vast catastrophes—world-wide destruction of floras and faunas, and the sudden introduction or creation of new forms of life, after the forces of nature had sunk into repose; Catas′trophist, a holder of the foregoing, as opposed to the uniformitarian theory. [Gr., kata, down, strephein, to turn.]

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of catastrophe in Chaldean Numerology is: 7

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of catastrophe in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of catastrophe in a Sentence

1. Marilyn Puder-York:

   It doesn't have to be a catastrophe.

2. Davjigbold Ariunbold:

   It's not a drought, it's a catastrophe.

3. Deputy Prime Minister Nikola Todorov:

   This is a catastrophe of unprecedented proportion.

4. President Barack Obama:

   It was a natural disaster but also a man-made catastrophe.

5. State John Kerry:

   But what happens if the climate skeptics are wrong? Catastrophe.

Images & Illustrations of catastrophe

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