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calamidad

calamity

noun kah-lah-mee-DAHD Rare

Also means

disaster

Usage Note

Calamidad can describe both a large-scale catastrophe and, informally, a hopelessly incompetent person — ese hombre es una calamidad ('that man is a disaster'). The informal personal use is common in spoken Spain-Spanish. Its plural calamidades frequently appears in the phrase pasar calamidades ('to go through hardships').

Examples

"La inundación fue una verdadera calamidad para el pueblo."

Natural Translation

The flood was a real calamity for the town.

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