How to Use catastrophe in a Sentence

catastrophe

noun
  • The oil spill was an environmental catastrophe.
  • Experts fear a humanitarian catastrophe if food isn't delivered to the refugees soon.
  • Even a catastrophe wouldn’t have changed the vibe in the hall.
    — Michael Zwiebach, San Francisco Chronicle, 14 Mar. 2026
  • None of us should have to wait or meet near catastrophe to be healthy.
    — Andy Dunn As Told To Marty Munson, Men's Health, 10 May 2022
  • And if so, what needs to be done to guard against more catastrophe?
    — Luke Broadwater, baltimoresun.com, 1 June 2018
  • And that means the next time catastrophe strikes, no one will have your back.
    — Kelly McKinney, New York Daily News, 28 July 2025
  • And by the way, that's supposed to lead us now to catastrophe.
    — Fox News, 12 July 2018
  • No matter what brought it on, a flare-up doesn’t have to be a catastrophe.
    — Sara Coughlin, SELF, 5 Nov. 2019
  • How can so many in our government have turned a blind eye to this catastrophe?
    — Kaitlyn Schallhorn, Orange County Register, 5 Nov. 2024
  • The near catastrophe turned out to have a happy ending for all.
    — The Washington Post, Arkansas Online, 28 Nov. 2021
  • But Putin still believes in his heart that that was a catastrophe.
    — CBS News, 30 Mar. 2022
  • This is real -- a mystery and a catastrophe at the same time.
    — Fox News, 25 Mar. 2018
  • The question for us now is what comes after the next catastrophe.
    — Pablo Larios, Artforum, 10 June 2026
  • Such a conflict would be a catastrophe for both countries—and for us all.
    — Kevin Rudd, Time, 4 Apr. 2022
  • In a world primed to burn, any tiny ignition can lead to catastrophe.
    — Matt Simon, WIRED, 1 Sep. 2023
  • Turner’s song is more about his own actions in the face of such a catastrophe.
    — Courtney Devores, charlotteobserver, 7 June 2018
  • Everyone wants to talk about bat flips and pace of play, but this is a catastrophe.
    — Si.com Staff, SI.com, 25 Mar. 2018
  • The heroic attempt to thwart such a heist ends in catastrophe.
    — Nick Romano, EW.com, 11 June 2019
  • And this may be the only option that avoids a catastrophe.
    — Emily St. Martin, Los Angeles Times, 23 May 2026
  • The end of law sooner or later ends in catastrophe.
    — Thomas G. Moukawsher, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Dec. 2025
  • So why not go ahead and suspend or raise the limit on their own to avoid that sort of catastrophe?
    — Chris Cillizza, CNN, 22 Sep. 2021
  • That then takes you up to 1914 and the catastrophe that starts there.
    — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 5 Sep. 2022
  • Mays also faces a charge of causing a catastrophe.
    — Ben Wheeler, Kansas City Star, 10 Mar. 2026
  • Mays also faces a charge of causing a catastrophe.
    — Kansas City Star, 9 Mar. 2026
  • Mays also faces a charge of causing a catastrophe.
    — Kansas City Star, 22 Dec. 2025
  • Smaller founders called it a catastrophe.
    — Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 22 Sep. 2025
  • What is Utah doing to prevent or stymie the size of that catastrophe?
    — Jeff Parrott, The Salt Lake Tribune, 31 Dec. 2021
  • But even if countries stick to their promises (and some may not), that may not be enough to avert catastrophe.
    — The Economist, 4 July 2019
  • So Steve was talking to us about all the catastrophes that had happened.
    — Andrew Dansby, Houston Chronicle, 13 Dec. 2017
  • In the work of fiction, the ship is taken over to prevent catastrophe.
    — Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 5 July 2026

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

Last Updated: