1
as in floods
a great flow of water or of something that overwhelms
an ancient cataclysm that may have been the basis for the Flood described in the Bible
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in disasters
a sudden violent event that brings about great loss or destruction
the earthquake that struck Lisbon in 1755, killing 30,000 people, was one of the greatest cataclysms ever recorded
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in upheavals
a violent disturbance (as of the political or social order)
a social cataclysm that gave rise to a new world order
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cataclysms
Noun
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Severe weather disasters that result in damage of at least $1 billion now average 23 per year and have doubled since the 2010s, according to Bank of America.—
Spencer Kimball,
CNBC,
24 Mar. 2025 -
Heroes protect people and society from accidents, disasters, and villains—criminals who use their Quirks for evil.—
Kevin Sabet,
Newsweek,
24 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Or perhaps flying insects that make split-second changes to their flight patterns enjoy torrents of information flowing through their brains that we mere humans can only imagine.—
Carl Zimmer,
New York Times,
26 Dec. 2024
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The lakes are often held in place by unstable ice dams and gravel bars that can fail with little warning, unleashing deadly torrents.—
ByAthar Parvaiz,
science.org,
2 Dec. 2024
Noun
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The ongoing civil war has caused one of the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophes and diplomatic efforts to bring the conflict to an end have failed.—
Nadeen Ebrahim,
CNN Money,
10 Apr. 2025
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Those cuts have been felt in the meager US response to the Myanmar quake, according to experts, exposing a void in international relief measures for major catastrophes.—
Rebecca Wright,
CNN Money,
10 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Violence was entrenched as a byproduct of a government that ignored the tragedies faced by those like Shirley Vasquez and her neighbors.—
Cary Goodman,
New York Daily News,
5 Jan. 2025
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An Interview with Diane Wilson Sarah Neilson Talking to the author of The Seed Keeper about the tragedies of modern agriculture, and restoring Indigenous foods to communities as one way of healing historical trauma.—
Max Ufberg,
hazlitt.net,
4 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Like the tragedy of the recent California wildfires as well as so many other calamities of our time, each one impacts us all to one degree or another.—
Michael B. Teiger,
Hartford Courant,
31 Jan. 2025
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Everyone in the audience laughed when the capybara first appeared onscreen, even the little kid behind us who had cried earlier, scared of some of the calamities befalling the feline hero.—
Gary Shteyngart,
The New Yorker,
27 Jan. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Cataclysms.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cataclysms. Accessed 24 Apr. 2025.
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