ca ‧ lam ‧ i ‧ ty /kəˈlæməti, kəˈlæmɪti/ BrE AmE noun ( plural calamities ) [countable]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: calamité , from Latin calamitas ]
a terrible and unexpected event that causes a lot of damage or suffering SYN disaster :
It will be a calamity for farmers if the crops fail again.
—calamitous adjective