Synonyms for disastrous
- adjective
Most common
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Calamitous — foreboding disaster; ill-omened
calamitous, unfortunate, fatal, ruinous, ill-fated, destructive, fateful, dire, sinister, deadly, deplorable, unhappy, grievous, harmful, unlucky, woeful, untoward, hapless, ill-starred, ominous, baleful, black
2. Catastrophic — of the nature of a disaster; calamitous
Other
Definitions
- adj. 1
Of the nature of a disaster; calamitous.
- adj. 2
Foreboding disaster; ill-omened.
Related words
- Word family
- disaster
Example sentences
- unfortunate He has shown remorse for the unfortunate incident.
- fatal Make the best of one's lot with fatal resignation.
- ruinous Absolute tolerance is ruinous to a tolerant society.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| disastrous | falling | |
| unfortunate | falling | |
| fatal | steady | |
| ruinous | falling | |
| calamitous | steady |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- hard1, dire1
- 5 letters
- black1, fatal2
- 6 letters
- deadly2, woeful2
- 7 letters
- unhappy3, harmful2, unlucky3, ominous3, fateful2, hapless2, ruinous3, baleful2
- 8 letters
- sinister3, grievous2, untoward3
- 10 letters
- deplorable4, calamitous4
- 11 letters
- unfortunate4, destructive3, devastating4, cataclysmic4, cataclysmal
- 12 letters
- catastrophic4
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (fatal2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- désastreux
- Italiano
- disastroso
- Español
- desastrado
- Català
- desastrós