A catastrophe is never a good thing. Catastrophe can refer to a momentous tragic event, an utter failure, a violent and sudden change in a feature of the earth, or a violent usually destructive natural event.

// Despite her careful planning, the party turned out to be a catastrophe.

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"In the event of a major catastrophe like a hurricane, the agency would have a funding reserve set aside for initial response and recovery operations." — Ella Nilsen, CNN, 10 June 2024

When catastrophe was borrowed from Greek in the 1500s it was a term for tearjerkers: the catastrophe was the conclusion or final event of a usually tragic dramatic work. (Greek katastrophē, which means the same thing, comes from katastrephein, meaning "to overturn.") From there, the word moved on to occupy other territory relating to tragic happenings, utter failures, and the worst sort of natural disasters. Just as disaster can range from a calamitous event to one that is merely unsuccessful, catastrophe can refer to what is truly devastating as well as to what is simply deeply disheartening. In Henry IV, Part 2, Shakespeare opted to steer the word away from disaster entirely and plant it squarely in the world of burlesque: "You scullion! You rampallian! You fustilarian! I'll tickle your catastrophe!" May all our catastrophes be of such a comic variety.