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desastre

disaster, catastrophe

noun deh-SAHS-treh Less Common

Origin: From Italian disastro, literally 'ill-starred' (dis- + astro, star).

Also means

mess, fiasco (informal)

Usage Note

Desastre covers both natural disasters (desastre natural) and colloquial fiascos ('the party was a disaster'). The adjective form is desastroso. In informal speech, calling a person un desastre means they are hopelessly disorganised or incompetent, not dangerous.

Examples

"El terremoto fue un desastre para la región."

Natural Translation

The earthquake was a disaster for the region.

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