disaster

disaster, calamity, catastrophe, misfortune

名词 disaster:

1. a state of extreme (usually irremediable) ruin and misfortune
   同义词：catastrophe
2. an event resulting in great loss and misfortune
   同义词：calamity, catastrophe, tragedy, cataclysm
3. an act that has disastrous consequences

1. After the disaster there were many who wanted food and shelter.
   这场灾难过後，许多人既没有食物又没有住处。
2. The disaster caused him to waver in his faith.
   这件灾难使他对信仰发生了动摇。
3. They had led the country into economic disaster.
   他们把国家带入了经济灾难中。

dis.as.ter

n.（名词）

An occurrence causing widespread destruction and distress; a catastrophe.
灾难，大祸：偶发事件引起大范围的破坏和痛苦；大灾难
A grave misfortune.
致命的不幸
Informal A total failure:
【非正式用语】 彻底的失败：
例句：
The dinner party was a disaster.
宴会彻底失败

Obsolete An evil influence of a star or planet.
【废语】 恒星或行星邪恶的影响

来源：
French désastre
法语 désastre
from Italian disastro
源自 意大利语 disastro
dis- [pejorative pref.] from Latin dis- * see dis-
dis- [轻蔑语前缀] 源自 拉丁语 dis- *参见 dis-
astro [star] from Latin astrum from Greek astron * see ster- 3
astro [星] 源自 拉丁语 astrum 源自 希腊语 astron *参见 ster- 3

<参考词汇><同义词>disaster,calamity,catastrophe,cataclysmThese nouns refer to an event having fatal or ruinous results.
这些名词均指带来致命的或毁灭的结果的事件。
Disaster generally implies great destruction, hardship, or loss of life:
Disaster 一般暗示巨大的破坏、困难或丧失生命：
例句：
.A nuclear disaster, spread by winds and waters and fear, could well engulf the great and the small, the rich and the poor, the committed and the uncommitted alike. (John F. Kennedy).
.核灾难，由风、水和恐惧而传播出去，可完全吞噬大国、小国、富国、穷国，以及结盟的和不结盟的国家. （约翰·F·肯尼迪）。

Calamity emphasizes distress, grief, or the sense of loss:
Calamity 强调痛苦、悲伤或失落感：
例句：
.the heaviest calamity in English history, the breach with America. (James George Frazer).
.英国历史上最沉重的灾难，是和美国关系的破裂. （詹姆斯·乔治·弗雷泽）。

Catastrophe especially stresses the sense of a tragic final outcome:
Catastrophe 特别强调最后的悲剧结果：
例句：
.The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything save our modes of thinking, and we thus drift toward unparalleled catastrophes. (Albert Einstein). A
.无需再思考，原子发出的能量已改变了一切，因此我们还走向史无前例的灾难. （爱伯特·爱因斯坦）。

cataclysm is a violent upheaval that brings about a fundamental change:
Cataclysm 指巨大的劫乱，从而带来根本性的改变：
例句：
old aristocratic institutions destroyed by the revolutionary cataclysm.
已被革命剧变打破的旧的贵族统治