calamitous

/kəˈlæmɪtəs/

//kəˈlæmɪtəs// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"calamitous" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“calamitous” is uncommon English (frequency #57,273 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#57,273
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Causing or involving calamity; disastrous.

Corpus desk

Index EN-calamitous · calamitous · English

calamitous · rank #57,273 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #57,273
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH bushland

Nearest frequency peer: bushland (-3 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “calamitous”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “calamitous” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for calamitous
PropertyValue
Headwordcalamitous
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/kəˈlæmɪtəs/
Letters10
Frequency rank#57,273
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “calamitous” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).calamitousfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “bushland” (#57,270), “canard” (#57,276), “Buscemi” (#57,269). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “calamitous” is #57,273. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

calamitous is uncommon English at frequency #57,273 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /kəˈlæmɪtəs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for calamitous in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French calamiteux (“calamitous”) (see French -eux, English -ous), from Latin calamitōsus (“destructive, disastrous, ruinous, calamitous”), a contraction of calamitātōsus, from calamitāt- + -ōsus (suffix meaning ‘full of; prone to’ forming adje… The correct English form is calamitous, spelled C-A-L-A-M-I-T-O-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Causing or involving calamity; disastrous.
  2. 2
    Of a person: involved in a calamity; hence, distressed, miserable.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how calamitous appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The city was struck by a calamitous cyclone.
  2. [T]he fallacie of Æquivocation and Amphibologie, […] conclude from the ambiguity of ſome vvord, or the ambiguous ſintaxis of many put together. From this fallacy aroſe the calamitous error of the Jevves, miſapprehending the Propheſies of their Meſſias, and expounding them alvvayes unto literall and temporal expectation.

Etymology

Borrowed from French calamiteux (“calamitous”) (see French -eux, English -ous), from Latin calamitōsus (“destructive, disastrous, ruinous, calamitous”), a contraction of calamitātōsus, from calamitāt- + -ōsus (suffix meaning ‘full of; prone to’ forming adjectives from nouns); calamitāt- is the oblique stem of calamitās (“disaster, misfortune, calamity; damage, harm; loss”), from *calamis (“damaged”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kelh₂- (“to beat; to break”)) + -tās (suffix forming abstract nouns denoting a condition or state). By surface analysis, calamity + -ous.

This word in other languages

calamitoso(Español)calamiteux(Français)calamitoso(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "calamitous"?
"calamitous" is spelled C-A-L-A-M-I-T-O-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is /kəˈlæmɪtəs/.
What does "calamitous" mean?
As an adjective, "calamitous" means: Causing or involving calamity; disastrous.
How do you pronounce "calamitous"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "calamitous" is /kəˈlæmɪtəs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "calamitous"?
Borrowed from French calamiteux (“calamitous”) (see French -eux, English -ous), from Latin calamitōsus (“destructive, disastrous, ruinous, calamitous”), a contraction of calamitātōsus, from calamitāt- + -ōsus (suffix meaning ‘full of; prone to’ fo... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "calamitous", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Castleford#57,280cerevisiae#57,287Botticelli#57,255Chrysostom#57,292

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list