catastrophic loss
Complete financial destruction
Catastrophic loss is damage or destruction so severe that recovery is impossible or prohibitively expensive.
Insurance uses the term for losses exceeding policy limits or involving total destruction: The wildfire resulted in catastrophic loss for dozens of homeowners.
The phrase emphasizes not just that something was lost, but that the loss fundamentally changes circumstances.
- oil spillPetroleum released into water
- climate disasterSevere environmental harm event
- earthquakeSeismic ground movement
- recessionProlonged economic decline
- market crashSudden market decline
tsunami · species extinction · habitat destruction · bankruptcy · nuclear meltdown · ocean acidification · hurricane · debt crisis · divorce · desertification · wildfire · act of God · deforestation · coral bleaching · terrorism · war · flood · foreclosure
- damage claimsproperty damage, fire damage, water damage, storm damage, hail damage
- insurance risksbodily injury, property damage, liability claims, collision, fire damage
- war casualtiescasualties, war casualties, war dead, killed in action, fallen soldiers
- insuranceinsurance, coverage, auto insurance, life insurance, home insurance
catastrophic lossjackpot
Accumulated gambling prize
bonanza · runaway success · landslide victory · windfall · epic win
catastrophic lossfull recovery
Return to prior health
salvation · deliverance · crowning achievement · stroke of luck · godsend
catastrophe, catastrophes, catastrophically, cataclysm, loss, losses, losers