1.
catastrophe, disaster, calamity, major tragedy
A large-scale tragic event involving significant damage, casualties, or destruction. Used for accidents, natural disasters, and other events that cause widespread suffering.
列車事故が大惨事になった。
The train accident turned into a catastrophe.
もう少しで大惨事になるところだった。
It almost turned into a catastrophe.
迅速な避難誘導のおかげで、大惨事を免れることができた。
Thanks to the swift evacuation guidance, a catastrophe was avoided.
大惨事 is a compound of 大 (great) and 惨事 (tragic incident).
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 大惨事になる: to turn into a catastrophe
- 大惨事を引き起こす: to cause a catastrophe
- 大惨事を免れる: to avert/avoid a catastrophe
- 大惨事に至る: to lead to a catastrophe
USAGE:
Common in news reporting about accidents, natural disasters, and other large-scale tragic events. Also used in near-miss situations with expressions like 大惨事になるところだった ("it almost became a catastrophe").
SIMILAR WORDS:
- 惨事: tragic incident (smaller scale)
- 大惨事: catastrophe (large-scale tragedy)
- 災害: disaster (often natural disasters, more general)