catastrophe

Universal Words noun 1 a sudden disaster that causes many people to suffer: Early warnings of rising water levels prevented another major catastrophe. 2 an event that causes one person or a group of people personal suffering, or that makes difficulties: The attempt to expand the business was a catastrophe for the firm. * We've had a few catastrophes with the food for the party. catastrophic adjective: catastrophic effects / losses / results * (AmE) a catastrophic illness (= one that costs a very large amount to treat) catastrophically adverb: to fail catastrophically