disaster

n.灾难; 灾祸; 灾害; 不幸; 祸患; 彻底失败的人(或事)

复数：disasters

牛津词典

noun

灾难；灾祸；灾害an unexpected event, such as a very bad accident, a flood or a fire, that kills a lot of people or causes a lot of damage

an air disaster 空难

environmental disasters环境灾难

Thousands died in the disaster.数千人在这场灾祸中丧生。

a natural disaster (= one that is caused by nature) 自然灾害

不幸；祸患a very bad situation that causes problems

Losing your job doesn't have to be such a disaster.丢了工作不一定就是大难临头。

Disaster struck when the wheel came off.车轮脱落，灾难就来了。

financial disaster严重的财政危机

Letting her organize the party is a recipe for disaster (= something that is likely to go badly wrong) .让她来组织这次聚会非坏事不可。

彻底失败的人（或事）a complete failure

As a teacher, he's a disaster.他当老师压根儿就不称职。

The play's first night was a total disaster.这出戏头一晚就彻底演砸了。

柯林斯词典

N-COUNT (尤指伤亡惨重的)灾难，灾祸(如地震、坠机等)A disaster is a very bad accident such as an earthquake or a plane crash, especially one in which a lot of people are killed.It was the second air disaster in the region in less than two months...这已经是该地区不到两个月内的第二次空难了。

Many had lost all in the disaster and were destitute.很多人被灾难夺去了一切，变得一无所有。

N-COUNT 非常糟糕的事;彻底的失败;不幸If you refer to something as a disaster, you are emphasizing that you think it is extremely bad or unacceptable.The whole production was just a disaster!整个产品简直就是一个败笔！

It would be a disaster for them not to reach the semi-finals...如果不能挺进半决赛，对他们来说就是完败。

'This tax is a disaster waiting to happen,' said an angry Tory backbencher.“这项税收将为日后埋下祸根，”一位愤怒的保守党后座议员说道。

N-UNCOUNT 灾祸;祸患Disaster is something which has very bad consequences for you.The government brought itself to the brink of fiscal disaster...***把自己推向了财政危机的边缘。

'The potential for disaster is enormous,' he says.“这将会祸患无穷，”他说道。

没有什么好结果；后患无穷If you say that something is a recipe for disaster, you mean that it is very likely to have unpleasant consequences.

双语例句

The pilots had to take emergency action to avoid a disaster 飞行员不得不采取紧急措施避免灾难的发生。

For Sandro, the new year brought disaster 对桑德罗来说，新的一年带来的是灾难。

Tragic literature dignifies sorrow and disaster 悲剧作品使悲伤和灾难得到了升华。

It was the second air disaster in the region in less than two months 这已经是该地区不到两个月内的第二次空难了。

Many had lost all in the disaster and were destitute. 很多人被灾难夺去了一切，变得一无所有。

The whole production was just a disaster! 整个产品简直就是一个败笔！

It would be a disaster for them not to reach the semi-finals 如果不能挺进半决赛，对他们来说就是完败。

'This tax is a disaster waiting to happen,' said an angry Tory backbencher. “这项税收将为日后埋下祸根，”一位愤怒的保守党后座议员说道。

The government brought itself to the brink of fiscal disaster ***把自己推向了财政危机的边缘。

'The potential for disaster is enormous,' he says. “这将会祸患无穷，”他说道。

The region has been declared a disaster area. 这个地区被宣布为灾区。

He's a nice old rascal but a disaster area as a politician. 他是个不错的老家伙，但是作为一个政治家就太差劲了。

Who could ever dream of a disaster like this? 谁能想到会发生这样的灾难？

This is the high road to disaster. 这很可能会导致灾难。

On the morning of the expedition I awoke with a feeling of impending disaster 出发远征的那个早上，我醒来就有一种灾难即将来临的感觉。

I think it's a disaster in the making. 我认为这会是一场灾难。

It has called the typhoon the worst natural disaster in South Korea in many years 它称这次台风为韩国多年来最严重的自然灾害。

Her appearance at this moment is an omen of disaster 她在此刻出现预示着一场灾难。

It's an ecological disaster with no parallel anywhere else in the world. 这是一场在世界其他地方都没有出现过的生态灾难。

He had a presentiment of disaster. 他预感会有灾难降临。

They neglected to rearm in time and left Britain exposed to disaster. 他们由于疏忽没有及时重整军备，结果使英国面临灾祸。

Scientists have described the Aral sea as the site of the worst ecological disaster on earth 科学家把咸海描述成地球上最严重的生态灾难发生地。

Bank of England officials continued to insist that the pound would soon return to stability but disaster struck 英格兰银行官员仍然坚持说英镑不久就会恢复稳定，但结果灾难爆发了。

Tens of thousands more suffered terrible injuries in the world's worst industrial disaster 还有成千上万的人在那场全世界最严重的工业灾难中受了重伤。

Take-off and landing procedures have been tightened after two jets narrowly escaped disaster. 在两架喷气机差点出事故之后，起飞和降落的操作规程更加严格了。

An investigation is underway to find out how the disaster happened 调查已经展开，以查明灾难是如何发生的。

Witnesses to the crash say they saw an explosion just before the disaster 空难目击者称，就在灾难发生之前他们看见飞机发生了爆炸。

The area has been declared a disaster zone. 这个地区已经被宣布为灾难地带。

A frightful traffic disaster was avoided. 一次可怕的交通事故避免了。

You don't know how they suffered as disaster victims. 你可不知道灾民的苦处。

同义词辨析

tragedyadversitycalamitycatastrophedisastermisfortune【导航词义：悲剧，灾难】

tragedy n. 悲剧性事件，惨剧

〔辨析〕指因有人死亡而令人震惊的不幸事件。

〔例证〕Mother's sudden death was a tragedy to the family.母亲的突然去世对全家是一个极大的不幸。The tragedy he mentioned took place in March.他提到的那一悲惨事件发生在3月。The tragedy occurred during the earthquake when four people of the same family were killed.地震中悲剧发生了，一家人中有四个丧命。

adversity n. 逆境，不幸

〔辨析〕指困难重重或不走运的境况。

〔例证〕The others were greatly inspired by his courage in the face of adversity.他面对逆境的勇气极大地鼓舞了其他人。He is always ready to deal with adversity.他时刻准备着去应对逆境。

calamity n. 灾难，祸患

〔辨析〕指意外发生的、造成重大损失的灾祸，语气强于 disaster，侧重于悲痛的心情；有时也指个人的不幸， 多为幽默用语。

〔例证〕It will be a calamity for farmers if it keeps raining.如果雨一直下个不停，将会给农民带来灾难。The flood brought calamities to the local people.洪水给当地民众带来了巨大灾难。The marriage proved to be the greatest calamity of her life.事实证明这桩婚姻是她一生中最大的不幸。It will be a calamity if I fail my English exam.这次英语考试我要是通不过就惨了。

catastrophe n. 重大灾难；大祸

〔辨析〕语气最强，指造成破坏、死亡的可怕灾难，强调最终的结局；也可指极为麻烦的局面或悲惨的结局。

〔例证〕Food is required immediately to avert a humanitarian catastrophe.急需食物以避免一场人道主义灾难。The forest fire was a catastrophe.那场森林火灾是个大灾难。The natural catastrophe dealt a heavy blow to this country's economy.这场自然灾害给该国经济带来了严重的打击。If the project is cancelled, it will be a catastrophe for all of the companies concerned.如果该项目取消，对所有相关公司将是个灾难。

disaster n. 灾难，灾祸

〔辨析〕普通用词，通常指各类人为或自然的灾祸，如核泄漏、洪水、暴风雪等。

〔例证〕The plane flew through the clouds in time and a disaster was narrowly averted.飞机及时地飞过了云层，侥幸避免了一场灾难。The oil spill was a disaster for sea animals.那次石油泄漏对海洋动物是一场灾难。The conference turned out to be a complete disaster.大会最终搞得一团糟。They overcame the natural disaster and even had a bumper harvest.他们战胜了自然灾害，甚至还获得了大丰收。

misfortune n. 不幸，灾祸

〔辨析〕多指较为严重的不幸，强调多由厄运或外界因素所致。

〔例证〕The climbers had the misfortune of running into a snowslide, but no one got hurt.登山队员不幸遇到雪崩，但没有人受伤。She is distressed by misfortune.厄运使她忧伤。We had the misfortune to run into a violent storm.我们不幸遭遇了猛烈的暴风雨。Misfortune befell me when I was still young.我年纪还很小的时候就遭到了不幸。

习惯用语

n.

an accident/a disaster waiting to happen

隐患a thing or person that is very likely to cause danger or a problem in the future because of the condition it is in or the way they behave

英英释义

noun

an act that has disastrous consequences

an event resulting in great loss and misfortune

the whole city was affected by the irremediable calamity

the earthquake was a disaster

Synonym:calamitycatastrophetragedycataclysm

a state of extreme (usually irremediable) ruin and misfortune

lack of funds has resulted in a catastrophe for our school system

his policies were a disaster

Synonym:catastrophe