1
as in flood
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 disaster
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 upheaval
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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of cataclysm
And up until the end, said Burdett, Foxman was still feeling that obligation, shaped by a cataclysm that for many is becoming a distant memory, when recalled at all.
—
Andrew Silow-Carroll,
Sun Sentinel,
18 May 2026
As with the Dred Scott decision that preceded the Civil War, such a blatantly undemocratic move portends some great cataclysm.
—
Voice Of The People,
New York Daily News,
4 May 2026
These cataclysms locked inside the Delaware Basin more than 46 billion barrels of technically recoverable crude oil, and 281 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
—
Literary Hub,
30 Apr. 2026
Every play in the Century Cycle has its roots in the cataclysm of enslavement, but Joe Turner takes place with Reconstruction still close in the rearview.
—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
26 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for cataclysm
Andrew Silow-Carroll,
Sun Sentinel,
18 May 2026
As with the Dred Scott decision that preceded the Civil War, such a blatantly undemocratic move portends some great cataclysm.
—
Voice Of The People,
New York Daily News,
4 May 2026
These cataclysms locked inside the Delaware Basin more than 46 billion barrels of technically recoverable crude oil, and 281 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
—
Literary Hub,
30 Apr. 2026
Every play in the Century Cycle has its roots in the cataclysm of enslavement, but Joe Turner takes place with Reconstruction still close in the rearview.
—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
26 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for cataclysm
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cataclysm
Noun
-
Meanwhile, Dondi’s son and son-in-law kept combing the flood area for objects, as did her husband, who also transported bins of things back to the warehouse and coached volunteers.
-
And in 1993, after many more floods, the Mississippi swelled again, this time with memorable cruelty.
Noun
-
Rodríguez said numerous public officials died in the disaster, including security personnel, municipal employees and military officers.
-
The Boyle Heights blaze, similar to the Eaton and Palisades fires, has revealed the region’s air monitoring can’t always tell people what they’ve been exposed to in a disaster.
Noun
-
Was came from a working-class industrial city, making music reflective of Detroit’s technological upheaval and economic neglect.
-
Unlike larger corporate counterparts, SMEs don't always have the financial reserves to comfortably absorb geopolitical upheaval and rapid inflation.
Noun
-
One significant problem, however, is that red dwarfs spit out harmful torrents of radiation in fierce gusts of their stellar winds, which can strip away a planet's atmosphere.
-
After Bores entered the race, super PACs tied to investors in ChatGPT maker OpenAI unleashed a torrent of spending aimed at torpedoing his campaign.
Noun
-
In the work of fiction, the ship is taken over to prevent catastrophe.
-
The young girls are referred to as Heaven’s 27 by their surviving families, who are determined to honor their legacy by ensuring such a catastrophe never happens again.
Noun
-
The result, historians say, has become a centralized, more politicized spectacle, marking the national milestone as a celebration of an imperial presidency rather than a revolution from kingly rule.
-
The company that manufactures the hardware powering the AI revolution acknowledges that the technology is more expensive than the people it was supposed to augment.
Noun
-
The same year, another, longer-running TV version focused on the story of survivors after an alien apocalypse that had wiped out most of the Earth's population.
-
Closing the Manhattan Bridge, diverting traffic, and managing the safety of staging a zombie apocalypse downtown required the cooperation and manpower of multiple agencies with their own sets of pressing priorities and responsibilities.
Noun
-
As a reminder, the Mission San Juan Capistrano tour ends at the ruins of what’s now called the Great Stone Church, which collapsed in an 1812 earthquake that killed 40 Acjachemen worshippers.
-
It is estimated that there are 500,000 detectable earthquakes in the world each year.
Cite this Entry
“Cataclysm.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cataclysm. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
