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   disaster

   /dɪˈzɑːstə/

   noun

   • 1. a sudden accident or a natural catastrophe that causes great damage or loss of life: "159 people died in the disaster" Similar catastrophecalamitycataclysmtragedyact of Godholocaustaccidentmishapmisadventuremischancesetbackreversalreverse of fortunecontretempsstroke of ill luckproblemdifficultyheavy blowshockbuffetadversitytroublemisfortuneruinruinationtribulationwoedistresstechnical:casualtyarchaic:balemishanterOpposite blessing
   • ▪ denoting a genre of films that use natural or accidental catastrophe as the mainspring of plot and setting: "a disaster movie"
   • ▪ an event or fact that has unfortunate consequences: "a string of personal disasters"
   • ▪ a person or thing that is a complete failure: "lunch had turned out to be a total disaster" Similar failurefiascocatastrophemessdebacledamp squibinformal:flopdudwashoutdead lossdead ducknon-starterno-hoperfailcar crashOpposite success

   Word Origin mid 16th century: from Italian disastro ‘ill-starred event’, from dis- (expressing negation) + astro ‘star’ (from Latin astrum).

   Scrabble Points: 9

   • D

     2

   • I

     1

   • S

     1

   • A

     1

   • S

     1

   • T

     1

   • E

     1

   • R

     1

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