disastrousdi‧sas‧trous /dɪˈzɑːstrəs $ dɪˈzæ-/ ●●○ adjective 
a disastrous first marriagedisastrous effects/consequences/results Climate change could have disastrous effects on Earth. The move proved disastrous (=was disastrous) for the company.—disastrously adverb
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- a disastrous early marriage
- A disastrous fire destroyed much of the city in the early 1900s.
- A disastrous pesticide spill killed all water life along 40 miles of the river.
- Much of the damage wrought by the disastrous three-day storm was still apparent.
- There was a fault in the engine design, which had disastrous consequences.
- He worked the bellows furiously, with disastrous results.
- I can see that for the marine fishkeeper, a bad test kit could be disastrous.
- So I am hoping, sirs, that you can decide between their claims, and avoid such a disastrous outcome.
- To have had more public spending rather than less would have been disastrous.
- Used carelessly, they can be disastrous for companies, governments, and investors.
Longman Language Activatorcausing a lot of destruction or suffering
· A disastrous fire destroyed much of the city in the early 1900s.· Much of the damage wrought by the disastrous three-day storm was still apparent.disastrous consequences · There was a fault in the engine design, which had disastrous consequences.
causing terrible destruction and suffering and many deaths, over a wide area: · The flooding was catastrophic, killing hundreds of people and leaving thousands homeless.· The destruction of the world's rain forests could have a catastrophic influence on the earth's climate.
causing great suffering and sadness: · The President referred to Friday's air disaster as a "tragic loss of life".
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY Climate change could have disastrous effects on Earth. The move proved disastrous (=was disastrous) for the company.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES The film was a complete flop.
Climate change could have disastrous effects on Earth. The move proved disastrous (=was disastrous) for the company. (=very bad and damaging)· If temperatures continue to rise, it could have disastrous consequences for agriculture.
(=very big, and with a very bad result)· The party suffered a disastrous defeat in the 2006 election.
The film was a complete flop. (=a very bad effect)· His leg injury had a disastrous impact on his career as a footballer.
· The parachute failed to open properly, with disastrous results.
· Things got off to a bad start when two people turned up late.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB· And his love-life's almost as disastrous as yours.· If something ever happened it would probably turn out to be as disastrous as the Quebec Bridge, you know, so.· Wars are almost as disastrous for wildlife as they are for humans.
· I975 had been one of the most disastrous ever at Lotus.· Behind it lay a tumultuous precedent-one of the most disastrous incidents to beset the face of the earth.· Our most disastrous Rannoch cottage was little better than a derelict shack, owned by an hotel in Aberfeldy.· The earliest and most disastrous of these emulations took place in the isolated village of Bognor.· It is time to shut nuclear power down, and begin the task of decommissioning Britain's most disastrous experiment.
· The implications of such a view were potentially disastrous for positivist criminology.· An investigation of the causes of the charring, a potentially disastrous situation, is under way.· Better that negotiations should break down than such difficulties be suppressed: a merger which fails is potentially disastrous.· Colds, flu or any ailment that diminishes vocal stamina and luster are potentially disastrous.· It is important that the profession makes the public aware that the effect of increasing understaffing is potentially disastrous.· The silly boy might have made potentially disastrous mistakes, but he had preserved the basis of his claim.
NOUN· And who can fail to see the disastrous consequences?· Each man lacks the stamina to confront the disastrous consequences of unbridled and law-breaking greed.· I remember November 5, 1953, when a tendency to clear up had rather a disastrous consequence.· It would, however, have disastrous consequences for the poor and in the long term for society as a whole.· This can have disastrous consequences for growing horses who need calcium for bone formation.· Declines in stocking levels can also have disastrous consequences if combined with tourist use.· Environmentalists warn that deforestation of this critical watershed area could have disastrous consequences for downstream regions.
· Diarrhetic shellfish toxins have had a disastrous effect on the seafood industry in many parts of the world.· That very inevitability is being challenged today by the accumulation of disastrous effects on body, nature, and place.· The epidemic is having a disastrous effect on the tourist industry.· But human variability can also result in system performance that is disorganized, with negative or even disastrous effects.· The resultant high temperatures and high humidities could have had a disastrous effect on both land and marine faunas.· These new forests have also had a disastrous effect on the quality of loch fishing.· That would have a disastrous effect on economic development.· The corruption had a disastrous effect on quality.
· In 1898, six years after Spurgeon's death, the building suffered a disastrous fire and had to be rebuilt.· It would have prospered had it not been for the disastrous fire of 1935 that largely destroyed it.· The bakery's expansion plans come just eighteen months after the business was hit by a disastrous fire.· Frauenfeld was unlucky in the eighteenth century when two disastrous fires wiped out most of the town.
· You would have been my second disastrous marriage.· Was it a disastrous marriage or the betrayal of a good girl?· Hosea uses the bold image of his own disastrous marriage to an unfaithful woman.
· It was concealed, with disastrous results, for Culpepper and Dereham were executed on 1 December 1540.· He worked the bellows furiously, with disastrous results.· The mistakes of fragmentation have already been made in London, with disastrous results for cycling facilities.· Labor unions continue to wage these dismal quarrels against management with almost uniformly disastrous results for the workers and their communities.· She saw them just as they saw her, and waved to them - with disastrous results.· Another theory is the parachute which drags the load out may have failed to open properly with disastrous results.· Hoare became Foreign Secretary instead, with disastrous results.· A small percentage of women have found that their immunity has worn off with disastrous results.
· Gustavsson made a disastrous start in men's K1 by falling in and being left behind.· After a disastrous start, the target was slashed to a mere 14m.· Now Whittingham is the target for Brian Clough to help end his side's disastrous start to the season.· It is doubtful that auctioneer John Marion had ever presided over such a disastrous start to an auction.· And he was credited with turning round Channel Four News after a disastrous start.· Instead he will join First Division big spenders Derby, who have made a disastrous start to their multi-million pound promotion campaign.
WORD FAMILYnoundisasteradjectivedisastrousadverbdisastrously
very bad, or ending in failure: a disastrous first marriagedisastrous effects/consequences/results Climate change could have disastrous effects on Earth. The move proved disastrous (=was disastrous) for the company.—disastrously adverb