How to say "catastrophe" in Japanese

• 破局はきょくCommon
  nounCovers catastrophe as a final, ruinous breakdown: the point at which a situation, such as a relationship or a plan, collapses completely; its cataclysm gloss also suits cataclysmic events of great scale.
  そのような情緒じょうちょと行動こうどうの分離ぶんりに比くらべれば、破局はきょく的てき結果けっかの方ほうがまだましである。↗

  Even disaster is better than such a divorce between emotion and action.
• 惨禍さんかCommon
  nounCovers catastrophe as a calamity: a large-scale disaster, such as a major earthquake or fire, that leaves terrible suffering and loss; the nuance emphasizes misery and devastation rather than final collapse.

Use 破局 for a catastrophe as the final, ruinous collapse of a situation, and 惨禍 for a catastrophe as a devastating calamity that brings widespread suffering and loss.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• 破局はきょくcatastrophe
• 惨禍さんかcalamity
• カタストロフィーcatastrophe
• 凶変きょうへんcatastrophe
• 大惨事だいさんじgreat disaster
• 激甚災害げきじんさいがいmajor disaster (that necessitates economic support to its victims)
• 災禍さいかdisaster