ca|tas|tro|phe

ca|tas|tro|phe «kuh TAS truh fee», noun.

1. a) a sudden, widespread, or extraordinary disaster; a great calamity or misfortune. A big earthquake, flood, or fire is a catastrophe. SYNONYM(S): cataclysm. See syn. under disaster. (Cf. ↑disaster) b) Informal, Figurative. a terrible failure; complete fiasco: »

In less tasteful hands, it [the opera La Traviata] might have been a catastrophe (Harold C. Schonberg).

2. the outcome, especially of a dramatic or literary work; climax; denouement. The catastrophe of a tragedy usually brings death or ruin to the leading character. The catastrophe of a comedy is frequently the marriage of a principal character.

3. a disastrous end; ruin: »

Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe (H. G. Wells).

4. an event which subverts or overturns the whole order of things: »

God reveals his will not by sudden catastrophes and violent revolutions (Frederic W. Farrar).

5. Geology. a sudden and violent change, especially one affecting the earth's surface; cataclysm.

╂[< Greek katastroph an overturning, ultimately < kata- down + stréphein to turn]