The deliberations of calamity are rarely
wise.
Burke.
Where'er I came I brought calamity.
Tennyson.
Syn. -- Disaster; distress; affliction; adversity;
misfortune; unhappiness; infelicity; mishap; mischance; misery;
evil; extremity; exigency; downfall. -- Calamity,
Disaster, Misfortune, Mishap,
Mischance. Of these words, calamity is the
strongest. It supposes a somewhat continuous state, produced not
usually by the direct agency of man, but by natural causes, such
as fire, flood, tempest, disease, etc, Disaster denotes
literally ill-starred, and is some unforeseen and
distressing event which comes suddenly upon us, as if from
hostile planet. Misfortune is often due to no specific
cause; it is simply the bad fortune of an individual; a link in
the chain of events; an evil independent of his own conduct, and
not to be charged as a fault. Mischance and mishap
are misfortunes of a trivial nature, occurring usually to
individuals. "A calamity is either public or private, but
more frequently the former; a disaster is rather
particular than private; it affects things rather than persons;
journey, expedition, and military movements are often attended
with disasters; misfortunes are usually personal;
they immediately affect the interests of the individual.
Pages:
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83