How to Use calamitous in a Sentence

calamitous

adjective
  • No one can predict how calamitous this could be.
    — Erik Sherman, Forbes.com, 29 Jan. 2026
  • But a cold eye is required for her legacy, which has been calamitous.
    — James Wood, The New Yorker, 25 Nov. 2019
  • The names bring a shudder in our decade of calamitous wildfires.
    — Paula L. Woods, Los Angeles Times, 25 Jan. 2024
  • The calamitous state of the garage had long been a source of concern among owners.
    — Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY, 3 July 2021
  • There is a sense among his men and women that a single wrong move may be calamitous.
    — Dwight Garner, New York Times, 5 Oct. 2017
  • Social media weighed in on the calamitous play.
    — Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 26 Sep. 2025
  • And then there was a run on the pound and a calamitous series of mortgage-rate rises.
    — Tom McTague, The Atlantic, 14 Oct. 2022
  • The calamitous fall could be attributed to a number of things.
    — Kevin Fishbain, The Athletic, 25 Dec. 2024
  • But closer to home, the results can be calamitous, laying out cities.
    — Special To The Oregonian, OregonLive.com, 18 Apr. 2018
  • Then came the calamitous pre-snap operation on that fourth down.
    — Daniel Popper, New York Times, 6 Oct. 2025
  • That window was pretty calamitous, too.
    — George Caulkin, New York Times, 10 Aug. 2025
  • The Eras Tour is the most calamitous movie event since Barbie.
    — Armond White, National Review, 18 Oct. 2023
  • The effects of burning coal have been irrefutably calamitous.
    — Dan Kaufman, The New Yorker, 9 May 2024
  • There are more than a few reasons why a calamitous night for the Frogs is unlikely.
    — Stefan Stevenson, star-telegram, 16 Oct. 2017
  • Painting is a way of providing a balm, to artist and viewer alike, in a calamitous era.
    — Kate Guadagnino, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2020
  • This has never happened, and could be calamitous in a time of Trumpism.
    — Amy Davidson Sorkin, The New Yorker, 4 Aug. 2024
  • That note, too, made it to the press, where it was picked up broadly as a calamitous sign for Beijing.
    — Rob Copeland, Fortune, 11 Nov. 2023
  • That would let the courts ponder it without the threat that an adverse ruling would prove calamitous.
    — Jeff Stein, Washington Post, 31 May 2023
  • That's far from calamitous, although the trend is moving in the wrong direction for him.
    — Frida Ghitis, CNN, 8 Nov. 2021
  • The dividing point between the two chapters is a calamitous event.
    — Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter, 31 Aug. 2019
  • The calamitous series of events have sparked protest after protest against the government.
    — Matt Rivers, CNN, 17 Oct. 2020
  • The end result has been calamitous for the company’s bottom line.
    — Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 4 Nov. 2024
  • Grow up, man/woman up, understand that the world is a big, sometimes calamitous place and deal with it.
    — Paul Daugherty, Cincinnati.com, 31 Jan. 2018
  • But Modi’s effort to prevent the spread of the virus will lead to its own calamitous damage.
    — Vindu Goel, BostonGlobe.com, 25 Mar. 2020
  • That proved to be just one of the team’s two wins all season though in a calamitous 2016 campaign.
    — Wells Dusenbury, Sun-Sentinel.com, 19 Oct. 2017
  • At the upper levels, the disruption to the school schedule could prove calamitous.
    — Anna Fifield, Anchorage Daily News, 18 Feb. 2020
  • At the upper levels, the disruption to the school schedule could prove calamitous.
    — Anna Fifield, Washington Post, 17 Feb. 2020
  • So where’s the El Niño that’s supposed to turn this into a wet, calamitous winter?
    — Gary Robbins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 Nov. 2023
  • Biden’s age became an issue last year after a calamitous debate showing.
    — Philip Elliott, Time, 21 Oct. 2025
  • While Earth may no longer be at risk of a calamitous collision with the asteroid, the moon isn't so lucky.
    — Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 24 Sep. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'calamitous.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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