: a terrible disaster

[count]

• The oil spill was an environmental catastrophe.
• Experts fear a humanitarian catastrophe if food isn’t delivered to the refugees soon.
• global/nuclear/economic catastrophe

[noncount]

• an area on the brink of catastrophe

— catastrophic /kætəˈstrɑfɪk/ adjective

• The effect of the war on the economy was catastrophic.
• a catastrophic drought

— catastrophically ˌ/kætəˈstrɑfɪkli/ adverb

• The dam failed catastrophically, flooding the entire valley.