Meaning & use

disastrous

adjective·Everyday

Causing great damage, harm, or failure; extremely unsuccessful.

See it in a sentence

The picnic turned disastrous when a sudden storm ruined the food.

Their first business venture was disastrous and closed within a year.

A note on using this word

Disastrous is a strong word; reserve it for genuinely severe failures rather than minor inconveniences.

Words with a similar meaning

catastrophiccalamitous

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “disastrous”, then compare your use with the examples above.

Your draft stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.