catastrophic

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

In 2009, he told me, he worked on a graduate research project on exactly that chokepoint: how critical it was, how catastrophic its closure would be for the global economy.

From Slate • Apr. 1, 2026

In the 20th century, several catastrophic glacial lake outbursts took place, including a 1941 incident in Peru that killed at least 1,800 people.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

On Friday, the UN's refugee agency warned that Lebanon was facing a worsening humanitarian crisis that could become catastrophic, with more than one million people now displaced.

From BBC • Mar. 28, 2026

And economic research indicates catastrophic job loss like the kind Holland feared happens at an industry level, not as a broader, economy-wide effect.

From Barron's • Mar. 27, 2026

On the Moon, the outside, catastrophic events hold sway; on Earth, the inside, slow processes dominate.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan