CATASTROPHE

noun Etymology: Greek katastrophē, from katastrephein to overturn, from kata- + strephein to turn Date: 1540 the final event of the dramatic action especially of a tragedy, a momentous tragic event ranging from extreme misfortune to utter overthrow or ruin, 3. a violent and sudden change in a feature of the earth, a violent usually destructive natural event (as a supernova), utter failure ; fiasco , catastrophic adjective catastrophically adverb