disaster
n. C / Un. a very bad event that causes a lot of damage or pain. You can also use it to describe something that fails completely, like a terrible party.
n. a sudden accident or a natural catastrophe that causes great damage or loss of life. In a figurative sense, it refers to an event or project that is a complete failure.
The heavy rain caused a natural disaster in the valley.
The wedding was a total disaster because the cake fell over and the band never arrived.
Emergency services conducted a full-scale drill to ensure the city was prepared for a major natural disaster like an earthquake or flood.
From Middle French desastre, from Italian disastro, from dis- + astro (“star”), from Latin astrum (“star”), from Ancient Greek ἄστρον (ástron, “star”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr.
Uncountable when referring to the general concept of misfortune; countable when referring to specific events.