catastrophically

«catastrophically» in Mova's school dictionary: In a way that causes terrible damage or disaster — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

adverb (catastrophically)

meaning for a pupil

1) In a way that causes terrible damage or disaster. tree →

2) (everyday, exaggerating) Extremely badly, as when a plan goes completely wrong. tree →

sense in the lessons

In news and geography it describes floods, earthquakes or failures that cause huge damage. In everyday talk it is often used to exaggerate how badly something went («the cake failed catastrophically»). It tells the reader that the result was very, very bad. Phrases: «went catastrophically wrong», «failed catastrophically».

examples

• The dam failed catastrophically and the valley flooded. tree →
• Our class play went catastrophically wrong when the scenery fell down. tree →
• The bridge was catastrophically damaged in the earthquake. tree →
• My first try at baking bread failed catastrophically. tree →
• If the ice sheets melt, sea levels could rise catastrophically. tree →
• He catastrophically misjudged the jump and landed in the mud. tree →
• The rocket's engine failed catastrophically just after launch. tree →

note

Adverb from «catastrophe» → «catastrophic» → «catastrophically» (note -ally). Say «kat-uh-STROF-ik-lee». In everyday speech it is often an exaggeration; in the news it can mean real loss of life, so think about who is listening.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «catastrophically» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.