disaster
/dɪˈzæs.tɚ/
"disaster" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“disaster” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #3,685 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #3,685
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An unexpected natural or man-made catastrophe of substantial extent causing significant physical damage or destruction, loss of life or sometimes permanent change to the natural environment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | disaster |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /dɪˈzæs.tɚ/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #3,685 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “disaster” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for disaster is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /dɪˈzæs.tɚ/. Corpus data places it at rank #3,685 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for disaster, with forms such as "ddisaster", "diasster", and "disasetr". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "distaste", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle French desastre, from Italian disastro, from dis- + astro (“star”), from Latin astrum (“star”), from Ancient Greek ἄστρον (ástron, “star”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr. The correct English form is disaster, spelled D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R.
Definition
- 1An unexpected natural or man-made catastrophe of substantial extent causing significant physical damage or destruction, loss of life or sometimes permanent change to the natural environment.
- 2An unforeseen event causing great loss, upset or unpleasantness of whatever kind.
- 3A skateboard trick involving a 180-degree ollie, landing on the center of the board with the front trucks facing towards the ramp and the back trucks over the lip. The skater then leans forwards to return in the ramp.
Etymology
From Middle French desastre, from Italian disastro, from dis- + astro (“star”), from Latin astrum (“star”), from Ancient Greek ἄστρον (ástron, “star”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ddisaster,diasster,disasetr,disasster,disasterr,disastre,disastter,disatser,dissaster,dissater,dsiaster,idsaster
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of disaster - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "disaster"?
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Using “disaster”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /dɪˈzæs.tɚ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “distaste” - see the side-by-side comparison. disaster vs distaste
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.