mindmap root((灾难)) disaster implies an unforeseen, ruinous, and often sudden misfortune that happens either through lack of foresight or through some hostile external agency: the war proved to be a ~ for the country. catastrophe implies a disastrous conclusion and emphasizes finality: speculation about the ~ that befell Atlantis. calamity stresses a grievous misfortune involving a great personal or public loss: the father's sudden death was a ~ for the family. cataclysm originally a deluge or geological convulsion, applies to any event or situation that produces an upheaval or complete reversal of an existing order: the French Revolution ranks as one of the ~s of the modern era.