disastrous

disastrous — adjective

1. causing so much harm, damage, or failure that a situation is completely ruined.

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

causing so much harm, damage, or failure that a situation is completely ruined.

Example

The team's disastrous performance in the final match cost them the championship.

attributive: disastrous + noun (performance)

Mathieu's disastrous attempt to bake a cake ended with smoke filling the kitchen.

Common collocations
  • disastrous effect
  • disastrous result
  • disastrous consequences
  • disastrous failure
  • disastrous mistake
  • disastrous decision
Synonyms
  • catastrophic

    similar intensity but usually suggests a sudden, large-scale tragedy; disastrous can describe smaller personal failures too

  • devastating

    focuses more on emotional or physical destruction and the feeling of being overwhelmed

  • calamitous

    more formal and literary; suggests widespread misfortune affecting many people

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

disastrous + noun

be + disastrous

Usage Note

Commonly used with abstract nouns describing outcomes (effect, result, consequence, mistake, failure, decision) rather than concrete objects or people.

Common Mistakes

The rainy weather was disastrous for our picnic.
The flood had a disastrous effect on the village.
'disastrous' implies serious harm or destruction, not mild disappointment.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

While all four words describe something extremely bad, 'disastrous' is the most flexible — it works for both large-scale tragedies (a disastrous earthquake) and personal failures (a disastrous interview). 'Catastrophic' implies sudden, large-scale disaster and is slightly stronger. 'Devastating' emphasises the emotional wreckage left behind; a devastating comment hurts deeply, while a disastrous comment causes practical problems. 'Calamitous' is formal and literary, rarely used in everyday speech. 'Ruinous' focuses on financial or structural destruction. For everyday use, 'disastrous' is the safest choice; reserve 'catastrophic' for truly major events and 'calamitous' for formal writing.

catastrophic ↗devastating ↗calamitousruinous

Common collocations

Adverbs

  • utterly disastrous
  • absolutely disastrous
  • potentially disastrous
  • financially disastrous
  • politically disastrous
  • economically disastrous

Prepositions

  • disastrous for
  • disastrous in

Etymology

ItalianFrenchEnglish

Comes from French 'désastreux', from Italian 'disastroso', which was formed from 'dis-' (bad) and 'astro' (star). In ancient belief, an unfavourable position of the stars could bring misfortune — so a 'disaster' was literally an 'ill-starred' event. The adjective 'disastrous' entered English in the late 1500s, originally meaning 'unlucky' or 'ill-fated', and gradually took on its modern sense of 'causing great harm or ruin'.